how to organise dissertation research

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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How to Structure a Dissertation – A Step by Step Guide

Published by Owen Ingram at August 11th, 2021 , Revised On September 20, 2023

A dissertation – sometimes called a thesis –  is a long piece of information backed up by extensive research. This one, huge piece of research is what matters the most when students – undergraduates and postgraduates – are in their final year of study.

On the other hand, some institutions, especially in the case of undergraduate students, may or may not require students to write a dissertation. Courses are offered instead. This generally depends on the requirements of that particular institution.

If you are unsure about how to structure your dissertation or thesis, this article will offer you some guidelines to work out what the most important segments of a dissertation paper are and how you should organise them. Why is structure so important in research, anyway?

One way to answer that, as Abbie Hoffman aptly put it, is because: “Structure is more important than content in the transmission of information.”

Also Read:   How to write a dissertation – step by step guide .

How to Structure a Dissertation or Thesis

It should be noted that the exact structure of your dissertation will depend on several factors, such as:

• Your research approach (qualitative/quantitative)
• The nature of your research design (exploratory/descriptive etc.)
• The requirements set for forth by your academic institution.
• The discipline or field your study belongs to. For instance, if you are a humanities student, you will need to develop your dissertation on the same pattern as any long essay .

This will include developing an overall argument to support the thesis statement and organizing chapters around theories or questions. The dissertation will be structured such that it starts with an introduction , develops on the main idea in its main body paragraphs and is then summarised in conclusion .

However, if you are basing your dissertation on primary or empirical research, you will be required to include each of the below components. In most cases of dissertation writing, each of these elements will have to be written as a separate chapter.

But depending on the word count you are provided with and academic subject, you may choose to combine some of these elements.

For example, sciences and engineering students often present results and discussions together in one chapter rather than two different chapters.

If you have any doubts about structuring your dissertation or thesis, it would be a good idea to consult with your academic supervisor and check your department’s requirements.

Parts of  a Dissertation or Thesis

Your dissertation will  start with a t itle page that will contain details of the author/researcher, research topic, degree program (the paper is to be submitted for), and research supervisor. In other words, a title page is the opening page containing all the names and title related to your research.

The name of your university, logo, student ID and submission date can also be presented on the title page. Many academic programs have stringent rules for formatting the dissertation title page.

Acknowledgements

The acknowledgments section allows you to thank those who helped you with your dissertation project. You might want to mention the names of your academic supervisor, family members, friends, God, and participants of your study whose contribution and support enabled you to complete your work.

However, the acknowledgments section is usually optional.

Tip: Many students wrongly assume that they need to thank everyone…even those who had little to no contributions towards the dissertation. This is not the case. You only need to thank those who were directly involved in the research process, such as your participants/volunteers, supervisor(s) etc.

Perhaps the smallest yet important part of a thesis, an abstract contains 5 parts:

• A brief introduction of your research topic.
• The significance of your research.
•  A line or two about the methodology that was used.
• The results and what they mean (briefly); their interpretation(s).
• And lastly, a conclusive comment regarding the results’ interpretation(s) as conclusion .

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Tip: Make sure to highlight key points to help readers figure out the scope and findings of your research study without having to read the entire dissertation. The abstract is your first chance to impress your readers. So, make sure to get it right. Here are detailed guidelines on how to write abstract for dissertation .

Table of Contents

Table of contents is the section of a dissertation that guides each section of the dissertation paper’s contents. Depending on the level of detail in a table of contents, the most useful headings are listed to provide the reader the page number on which said information may be found at.

Table of contents can be inserted automatically as well as manually using the Microsoft Word Table of Contents feature.

List of Figures and Tables

If your dissertation paper uses several illustrations, tables and figures, you might want to present them in a numbered list in a separate section . Again, this list of tables and figures can be auto-created and auto inserted using the Microsoft Word built-in feature.

List of Abbreviations

Dissertations that include several abbreviations can also have an independent and separate alphabetised  list of abbreviations so readers can easily figure out their meanings.

If you think you have used terms and phrases in your dissertation that readers might not be familiar with, you can create a  glossary  that lists important phrases and terms with their meanings explained.

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Introduction

Introduction chapter  briefly introduces the purpose and relevance of your research topic.

Here, you will be expected to list the aim and key objectives of your research so your readers can easily understand what the following chapters of the dissertation will cover. A good dissertation introduction section incorporates the following information:

• It provides background information to give context to your research.
• It clearly specifies the research problem you wish to address with your research. When creating research questions , it is important to make sure your research’s focus and scope are neither too broad nor too narrow.
• it demonstrates how your research is relevant and how it would contribute to the existing knowledge.
• It provides an overview of the structure of your dissertation. The last section of an introduction contains an outline of the following chapters. It could start off with something like: “In the following chapter, past literature has been reviewed and critiqued. The proceeding section lays down major research findings…”
• Theoretical framework – under a separate sub-heading – is also provided within the introductory chapter. Theoretical framework deals with the basic, underlying theory or theories that the research revolves around.

All the information presented under this section should be relevant, clear, and engaging. The readers should be able to figure out the what, why, when, and how of your study once they have read the introduction. Here are comprehensive guidelines on how to structure the introduction to the dissertation .

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Literature Review 

The  literature review chapter  presents previous research performed on the topic and improves your understanding of the existing literature on your chosen topic. This is usually organised to complement your  primary research  work completed at a later stage.

Make sure that your chosen academic sources are authentic and up-to-date. The literature review chapter must be comprehensive and address the aims and objectives as defined in the introduction chapter. Here is what your literature research chapter should aim to achieve:

• Data collection from authentic and relevant academic sources such as books, journal articles and research papers.
• Analytical assessment of the information collected from those sources; this would involve a critiquing the reviewed researches that is, what their strengths/weaknesses are, why the research method they employed is better than others, importance of their findings, etc.
• Identifying key research gaps, conflicts, patterns, and theories to get your point across to the reader effectively.

While your literature review should summarise previous literature, it is equally important to make sure that you develop a comprehensible argument or structure to justify your research topic. It would help if you considered keeping the following questions in mind when writing the literature review:

• How does your research work fill a certain gap in exiting literature?
• Did you adopt/adapt a new research approach to investigate the topic?
• Does your research solve an unresolved problem?
• Is your research dealing with some groundbreaking topic or theory that others might have overlooked?
• Is your research taking forward an existing theoretical discussion?
• Does your research strengthen and build on current knowledge within your area of study? This is otherwise known as ‘adding to the existing body of knowledge’ in academic circles.

Tip: You might want to establish relationships between variables/concepts to provide descriptive answers to some or all of your research questions. For instance, in case of quantitative research, you might hypothesise that variable A is positively co-related to variable B that is, one increases and so does the other one.

Research Methodology

The methods and techniques ( secondary and/or primar y) employed to collect research data are discussed in detail in the  Methodology chapter. The most commonly used primary data collection methods are:

• questionnaires
• focus groups
• observations

Essentially, the methodology chapter allows the researcher to explain how he/she achieved the findings, why they are reliable and how they helped him/her test the research hypotheses or address the research problem.

You might want to consider the following when writing methodology for the dissertation:

• Type of research and approach your work is based on. Some of the most widely used types of research include experimental, quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
• Data collection techniques that were employed such as questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, observations etc.
• Details of how, when, where, and what of the research that was conducted.
• Data analysis strategies employed (for instance, regression analysis).
• Software and tools used for data analysis (Excel, STATA, SPSS, lab equipment, etc.).
• Research limitations to highlight any hurdles you had to overcome when carrying our research. Limitations might or might not be mentioned within research methodology. Some institutions’ guidelines dictate they be mentioned under a separate section alongside recommendations.
• Justification of your selection of research approach and research methodology.

Here is a comprehensive article on  how to structure a dissertation methodology .

Research Findings

In this section, you present your research findings. The dissertation findings chapter  is built around the research questions, as outlined in the introduction chapter. Report findings that are directly relevant to your research questions.

Any information that is not directly relevant to research questions or hypotheses but could be useful for the readers can be placed under the  Appendices .

As indicated above, you can either develop a  standalone chapter  to present your findings or combine them with the discussion chapter. This choice depends on  the type of research involved and the academic subject, as well as what your institution’s academic guidelines dictate.

For example, it is common to have both findings and discussion grouped under the same section, particularly if the dissertation is based on qualitative research data.

On the other hand, dissertations that use quantitative or experimental data should present findings and analysis/discussion in two separate chapters. Here are some sample dissertations to help you figure out the best structure for your own project.

Sample Dissertation

Tip: Try to present as many charts, graphs, illustrations and tables in the findings chapter to improve your data presentation. Provide their qualitative interpretations alongside, too. Refrain from explaining the information that is already evident from figures and tables.

The findings are followed by the  Discussion chapter , which is considered the heart of any dissertation paper. The discussion section is an opportunity for you to tie the knots together to address the research questions and present arguments, models and key themes.

This chapter can make or break your research.

The discussion chapter does not require any new data or information because it is more about the interpretation(s) of the data you have already collected and presented. Here are some questions for you to think over when writing the discussion chapter:

• Did your work answer all the research questions or tested the hypothesis?
• Did you come up with some unexpected results for which you have to provide an additional explanation or justification?
• Are there any limitations that could have influenced your research findings?

Here is an article on how to  structure a dissertation discussion .

Conclusions corresponding to each research objective are provided in the  Conclusion section . This is usually done by revisiting the research questions to finally close the dissertation. Some institutions may specifically ask for recommendations to evaluate your critical thinking.

By the end, the readers should have a clear apprehension of your fundamental case with a focus on  what methods of research were employed  and what you achieved from this research.

Quick Question: Does the conclusion chapter reflect on the contributions your research work will make to existing knowledge?

Answer: Yes, the conclusion chapter of the research paper typically includes a reflection on the research’s contributions to existing knowledge.  In the “conclusion chapter”, you have to summarise the key findings and discuss how they add value to the existing literature on the current topic.

Reference list

All academic sources that you collected information from should be cited in-text and also presented in a  reference list (or a bibliography in case you include references that you read for the research but didn’t end up citing in the text), so the readers can easily locate the source of information when/if needed.

At most UK universities, Harvard referencing is the recommended style of referencing. It has strict and specific requirements on how to format a reference resource. Other common styles of referencing include MLA, APA, Footnotes, etc.

Each chapter of the dissertation should have relevant information. Any information that is not directly relevant to your research topic but your readers might be interested in (interview transcripts etc.) should be moved under the Appendices section .

Things like questionnaires, survey items or readings that were used in the study’s experiment are mostly included under appendices.

An Outline of Dissertation/Thesis Structure

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FAQs About Structure a Dissertation

What does the title page of a dissertation contain.

The title page will contain details of the author/researcher, research topic , degree program (the paper is to be submitted for) and research supervisor’s name(s). The name of your university, logo, student number and submission date can also be presented on the title page.

What is the purpose of adding acknowledgement?

The acknowledgements section allows you to thank those who helped you with your dissertation project. You might want to mention the names of your academic supervisor, family members, friends, God and participants of your study whose contribution and support enabled you to complete your work.

Can I omit the glossary from the dissertation?

Yes, but only if you think that your paper does not contain any terms or phrases that the reader might not understand. If you think you have used them in the paper,  you must create a glossary that lists important phrases and terms with their meanings explained.

What is the purpose of appendices in a dissertation?

Any information that is not directly relevant to research questions or hypotheses but could be useful for the readers can be placed under the Appendices, such as questionnaire that was used in the study.

Which referencing style should I use in my dissertation?

You can use any of the referencing styles such as APA, MLA, and Harvard, according to the recommendation of your university; however, almost all UK institutions prefer Harvard referencing style .

What is the difference between references and bibliography?

References contain all the works that you read up and used and therefore, cited within the text of your thesis. However, in case you read on some works and resources that you didn’t end up citing in-text, they will be referenced in what is called a bibliography.

Additional readings might also be present alongside each bibliography entry for readers.

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If your dissertation includes many abbreviations, it would make sense to define all these abbreviations in a list of abbreviations in alphabetical order.

Dissertation Methodology is the crux of dissertation project. In this article, we will provide tips for you to write an amazing dissertation methodology.

Your dissertation introduction chapter provides detailed information on the research problem, significance of research, and research aim & objectives.

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Organizing and Formatting Your Thesis and Dissertation

Learn about overall organization of your thesis or dissertation. Then, find details for formatting your preliminaries, text, and supplementaries.

Overall Organization

A typical thesis consists of three main parts – preliminaries, text, and supplementaries. Each part is to be organized as explained below and in the order indicated below:

1. Preliminaries:

• Title page (required)
• Copyright page (required)
• Abstract (required) only one abstract allowed
• Acknowledgments (optional) located in the Preliminary Section only
• Preface (optional)
• Autobiography (optional)
• Dedication (optional)
• Table of Contents (required)
• List of Tables (optional)
• List of Figures (optional)
• List of Plates (optional)
• List of Symbols (optional)
• List of Keywords (optional)
• Other Preliminaries (optional) such as Definition of Terms

3. Supplementaries:

• References or bibliography (optional)
• Appendices (optional)
• Glossary (optional)
• List of Abbreviations (optional)

Preliminaries

These are the general requirements for all preliminary pages.

• Preliminary pages are numbered with lower case Roman numerals.
• Page numbers are ½” from the bottom of the page and centered.
• The copyright page is included in the manuscript immediately after the title page and is not assigned a page number nor counted.
• The abstract page is numbered with the Roman numeral “ii”.
• The remaining preliminary pages are arranged as listed under “Organizing and Formatting the Thesis/Dissertation” and numbered consecutively.
• Headings for all preliminary pages must be centered in all capital letters 1” from the top of the page.
• Do not bold the headings of the preliminary pages.

A sample Thesis title page pdf is available here ,  and a sample of a Dissertation title page pdf is available here.

Refer to the sample page as you read through the format requirements for the title page.

• Do not use bold.
• Center all text except the advisor and committee information.

The heading “ Thesis ” or “ Dissertation ” is in all capital letters, centered one inch from the top of the page.

• Your title must be in all capital letters, double spaced and centered.
• Your title on the title page must match the title on your GS30 – Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form

Submitted by block

Divide this section exactly as shown on the sample page. One blank line must separate each line of text.

• Submitted by
• School of Advanced Materials Discovery 
• School of Biomedical Engineering
• Graduate Degree Program in Cell and Molecular Biology
• Graduate Degree Program in Ecology

If your department name begins with “School of”, list as:

• School of Education
• School of Music, Theatre and Dance
• School of Social Work

If you have questions about the correct name of your department or degree, consult your department. Areas of Study or specializations within a program are not listed on the Title Page.

Degree and Graduating Term block

• In partial fulfillment of the requirements
• For the Degree of
• Colorado State University
• Fort Collins, Colorado (do not abbreviate Colorado)

Committee block

• Master’s students will use the heading Master’s Committee:
• Doctoral students will use the heading Doctoral Committee:
• The Master’s Committee and Doctoral Committee headings begin at the left margin.
• One blank line separates the committee heading and the advisor section.
• One blank line separates the advisor and committee section.
• Advisor and committee member names are indented approximately half an inch from the left margin.
• Titles before or after the names of your advisor and your members are not permitted (Examples – Dr., Professor, Ph.D.).

Copyright Page

• A sample copyright page pdf is available here.
• A copyright page is required.
• A copyright page is included in the manuscript immediately after the title page.
• This page is not assigned a number nor counted.
• Center text vertically and horizontally.
• A sample abstract page pdf is available here – refer to the sample page as you read through the format requirements for the abstract.
• Only one abstract is permitted.
• The heading “ Abstract ” is in all capital letters, centered one inch from the top of the page.
• Three blank lines (single-spaced) must be between the “ Abstract ” heading and your title.
• Your title must be in all capital letters and centered.
• The title must match the title on your Title Page and the GS30 – Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form
• Three blank lines (single-spaced) must be between the title and your text.
• The text of your abstract must be double-spaced.
• The first page of the abstract is numbered with a small Roman numeral ii.

Table of Contents

• A sample Table of Contents page pdf is available.
• The heading “ Table of Contents ” is in all capital letters centered one inch from the top of the page.
• Three blank lines (single-spaced) follow the heading.
• List all parts of the document (except the title page) and the page numbers on which each part begins.
• The titles of all parts are worded exactly as they appear in the document.
• Titles and headings and the page numbers on which they begin are separated by a row of dot leaders.
• Major headings are aligned flush with the left margin.
• Page numbers are aligned flush with the right margin.

The text of a thesis features an introduction and several chapters, sections and subsections. Text may also include parenthetical references, footnotes, or references to the bibliography or endnotes.

Any references to journal publications, authors, contributions, etc. on your chapter pages or major heading pages should be listed as a footnote .

• The entire document is 8.5” x 11” (letter) size.
• Pages may be in landscape position for figures and tables that do not fit in “portrait” position.
• Choose one type style (font) and font size and use it throughout the text of your thesis. Examples: Times New Roman and Arial.
• Font sizes should be between 10 point and 12 point.
• Font color must be black. 
• Hyperlinked text must be in blue. If you hyperlink more than one line of text, such as the entire table of contents, leave the text black. 
• Margins are one inch on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right).
• Always continue the text to the bottom margin except at the end of a chapter.

• Please see preliminary page requirements .
• Body and references are numbered with Arabic numerals beginning with the first page of text (numbered 1).
• Page numbers must be centered ½” from the bottom of the page.

Major Headings

• A sample page pdf for major headings and subheadings is available here.
• Use consistent style for major headings.
• Three blank lines (single-spaced) need to be between the major heading and your text.
• Each chapter is started on a new page.
• The References or Bibliography heading is a major heading and the formatting needs to match chapter headings.

Subheadings

• A sample page pdf for major headings and subheadings is available here .
• Style for subheadings is optional but the style should be consistent throughout.
• Subheadings within a chapter (or section) do not begin on a new page unless the preceding page is filled. Continue the text to the bottom of the page unless at the end of a chapter.
• Subheadings at the bottom of a page require two lines of text following the heading and at least two lines of text on the next page.

Running Head

Do not insert a running head.

When dividing paragraphs, at least two lines of text should appear at the bottom of the page and at least two lines of text on the next page.

Hyphenation

The last word on a page may not be divided. No more than three lines in succession may end with hyphens. Divide words as indicated in a standard dictionary.

• The text of the thesis is double-spaced.
• Bibliography or list of reference entries and data within large tables may be single-spaced. Footnotes should be single spaced.
• Footnotes and bibliography or list of reference entries are separated by double-spacing.
• Quoted material of more than three lines is indented and single-spaced. Quoted material that is three lines or fewer may be single-spaced for emphasis.

Poems should be double-spaced with triple-spacing between stanzas. Stanzas may be centered if lines are short.

• Consult a style manual approved by your department for samples of footnotes.
• Footnotes are numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis.
• Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page on which the reference is made.
• Footnotes are single-spaced.
• Consult a style manual approved by your department for samples of endnotes.
• Endnotes are numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis.
• Endnotes may be placed at the end of each chapter or following the last page of text.
• The form for an endnote is the same as a footnote. Type the heading “endnote”.

Tables and Figures

• Tables and figures should follow immediately after first mentioned in the text or on the next page.
• If they are placed on the next page, continue the text to the bottom of the preceding page.
• Do not wrap text around tables or figures. Text can go above and/or below.
• If more clarity is provided by placing tables and figures at the end of chapters or at the end of the text, this format is also acceptable.
• Tables and Figures are placed before references.
• Any diagram, drawing, graph, chart, map, photograph, or other type of illustration is presented in the thesis as a figure.
• All tables and figures must conform to margin requirements.
• Images can be resized to fit within margins
• Table captions go above tables.
• Figure captions go below figures.
• Captions must be single spaced.

Landscape Tables and Figures

• Large tables or figures can be placed on the page landscape or broadside orientation.
• Landscape tables and figures should face the right margin (unbound side).
• The top margin must be the same as on a regular page.
• Page numbers for landscape or broadside tables or figures are placed on the 11” side.

Supplementaries

These are the general requirements for all supplementary pages.

• Supplementary pages are arranged as listed under “Organizing and Formatting the Thesis/Dissertation” and numbered consecutively.
• Headings for all supplementary pages are major headings and the formatting style needs to match chapter headings.

References or Bibliography

• The References or Bibliography heading is always a major heading and the formatting style needs to match chapter headings.
• References or Bibliography are ordered after each chapter, or at the end of the text.
• References or Bibliography must start on a new page from the chapter text.
• References are aligned flush with the left margin.
• The style for references should follow the format appropriate for the field of study.
• The style used must be consistent throughout the thesis.
• Appendices are optional and used for supplementary material.
• The Appendices heading is a major heading and the formatting style needs to match chapter headings.
• As an option the appendix may be introduced with a cover page bearing only the title centered vertically and horizontally on the page. The content of the appendix then begins on the second page with the standard one inch top margin.
• Quality and format should be consistent with requirements for other parts of the thesis including margins.
• Page numbers used in the appendix must continue from the main text.

A Foreign Language Thesis

Occasionally, theses are written in languages other than English. In such cases, an English translation of the title and abstract must be included in the document.

• Submit one title page in the non-English language (no page number printed).
• Submit one title page in English (no page number printed).
• Submit one abstract in the non-English language (page number is ii).
• Submit one abstract in English (page number is numbered consecutively from previous page – example: if the last page of the abstract in the foreign language is page ii the first page of the abstract in English is numbered page iii).

Multipart Thesis

In some departments, a student may do research on two or more generally related areas which would be difficult to combine into a single well-organized thesis. The solution is the multi-part thesis.

• Each part is considered a separate unit, with its own chapters, bibliography or list of references, and appendix (optional); or it may have a combined bibliography or list of references and appendix.
• A single abstract is required.
• The pages of a multi-part thesis are numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis, not through each part (therefore, the first page of Part II is not page 1).
• The chapter numbering begins with Chapter 1 for each part, or the chapters may be numbered consecutively.
• Pagination is consecutive throughout all parts, including numbered separation sheets between parts.
• Each part may be preceded by a separation sheet listing the appropriate number and title.

A Guide to Dissertation Planning: Tips, Tools and Templates

Dissertations are a defining piece of academic research and writing for all students. To complete such a large research project while maintaining a good work-life balance, planning and organisation is essential. In this article, we’ll outline three categories for dissertation planning including project management, note-taking and information management, alongside tools and templates for planning and researching effectively.

For both undergraduates and postgraduates, a dissertation is an important piece of academic research and writing. A large research project often has many moving parts from managing information, meetings, and data to completing a lengthy write-up with drafts and edits. Although this can feel daunting, getting ahead with effective planning and organisation will make this process easier. By implementing project management techniques and tools, you can define a research and writing workflow that allows you to work systematically. This will enable you to engage in critical thinking and deep work, rather than worrying about organisation and deadlines. 

To get prepared, you can do two things: First, start your preliminary readings and research to define a topic and methodology.  You can do this in summer or during the first few weeks of university but the sooner, the better. This gives you time to discuss things with your supervisor, and really choose a topic of interest. Second, begin preparing the tools and techniques you’ll be using for your research and writing workflow. You can use the preliminary research phase to test these out, and see what works for you. 

Below, we’ll cover three key aspects to consider when managing your dissertation, alongside some digital tools for planning, research and writing. 

The 3 Categories of Dissertation Planning

Project Management and Planning 

Your dissertation is a project that requires both long and short-term planning. For long-term planning, roadmaps are useful to break your work down into sections, chapters or stages. This will give you a clear outline of the steps you need to work through to complete your dissertation in a timely manner. 

Most likely, your roadmap will be a mixture of the stages in your research project and the sections of your write-up. For example, stage 1 might be defined as preliminary research and proposal writing. While stage 3 might be completing your literature review, while collecting data. 

This roadmap can be supplemented by a timeline of deadlines, this is when those stages or chapters need to be completed by. Your timeline will inform your short-term plans, and define the tasks that need completing on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. This approach, using a roadmap and timeline, allows you to capture all the moving parts of your dissertation, and focus on small sub-sections at a time. A clear plan can make it easy to manage setbacks, such as data collection issues, or needing more time for editing. 

Note-taking 

Whether you use a notebook, or digital tool, it’s ideal to have a dedicated research space for taking general notes. This might include meeting notes from supervision, important information from informational dissertation lectures, or key reminders, ideas and thoughts. It can be your go-to place for miscellaneous to-do lists, or to map out your thought processes. It’s good to have something on hand that is easy to access, and keeps your notes together in one place. 

Beyond this, you’ll also need a dedicated space or system for literature and research notes. These notes are important for avoiding plagiarism, communicating your ideas, and connecting key findings together. A proper system or space can make it easier to manage this information, and find the appropriate reference material when writing. Within this system, you might also include templates or checklists, for example, a list of critical reading questions to work through when assessing a paper. 

Information Management 

It’s important to consider how you plan to organise your literature, important documents, and written work. Note-taking is a part of this, however, this goes a step further to carefully organise all aspects of your dissertation. For example, it’s ideal to keep track of your literature searches, the papers you’ve read, and their citations but also, your reading progress. Being able to keep track of how many passes a paper has been through, how relevant it is, or where it fits within your themes, or ideas, will provide a good foundation for writing a well-thought out dissertation. 

Likewise, editing is an important part of the write-up process. You’ll have multiple drafts, revisions and feedback to consider. It’s good to have some way of keeping track of all this, to ensure all changes and edits have been completed. You might also have checklists or procedures to follow when collecting data, or working through your research. A good information management process can reduce stress, making everything easy to access and keep track of, which then allows you to focus on getting the actual work complete. 

Digital Project Management and Research Tools for Dissertation Planning 

Trello is a project management tool that uses boards, lists and cards to help you manage all your tasks. In a board, you can create lists, and place cards within these lists. Cards contain a range of information such as notes, checklists, and due dates. Cards and lists can be used to implement a digital kanban board system , allowing you to move cards into a ‘to-do’, ‘in progress’ or ‘complete’ list. This gives a visual representation of your progress.

This is a flexible, easy to use and versatile tool that can help with project management of your dissertation. For example, cards and lists can be used to track your literature, each card can represent a paper and lists could be 1st pass, 2nd pass, or be divided into themes. Likewise, you can use this approach to organise the various chapters or stages of your dissertation, and break down tasks in a visual way. Students have used Trello to manage academic literature reviews , daily life as an academic , and collaborate with their supervisors for feedback and revisions on their write-up. 

Notion is an all-in-one note-taking and project management tool that is highly customisable. Using content blocks, pages, and databases, this tool allows you to build a workspace tailored to your needs. Databases are a key feature of Notion, this function allows you to organise and define pages using a range of properties such as tags, dates, numbers, categories and more. This database can then be displayed in a multitude of ways using different views, and filters. 

For example, you can create a table with each entry being a page of meeting notes with your supervisor, you can assign a date, person, and tags to each page. You can then filter this information by date, or view it in a board format. Likewise, you can use the calendar to add deadlines, within these deadlines, you can expand the page to add information, and switch to ‘timeline’ view . This is perfect for implementing project management techniques when planning your dissertation. 

Although this may sound complicated, there are many templates and resources to get you started . Notion is an ideal tool for covering all three aspects of dissertation planning from project and information management to note-taking of all kinds. Students have used Notion for literature reviews , thesis writing , long-term PhD planning , thesis management , and academic writing . The best part, these students not only share their systems, but have also created free templates to help you build your own system for research. 

Asana is a project management and to-do list tool that uses boards, lists, timelines and calendars. If you’re someone who prefers using lists to organise your life and projects, Asana is ideal for you. You can use this tool to manage deadlines, reading progress, or break down your work into projects and sub-tasks. Asana can integrate with your calendar, which is perfect if you already use other calendar tools for organisation. If something like Notion is too overwhelming, using a mixture of tools with different purposes can be a more comfortable approach. 

Genei is an AI-powered research tool for note-taking and literature management. Your research and reading material can be imported, and organised using projects and folders. For each file, genei produces an AI-powered summary, document outline, keyword list and overview. This tool also extracts key information such as tables, figures, and all the references mentioned. You can read through documents 70% faster but also, collect related articles by clicking on the items in the reference list. Genei can generate citations, and be used alongside other popular reference management tools, such as Zotero and Mendeley . 

This tool is ideal for navigating information management and literature notes for your dissertation. You can compile notes across single documents or folders of documents using the AI-generated summaries. These notes remain linked to their original source, which removes the need for you to keep track of this information. If you find it hard to reword content, there’s also summarising and paraphrasing tools to help get you started. Genei is a great tool to use alongside project management solutions, such as Trello and Asana, and note-taking tools like Notion. You can define an efficient research and writing workflow using these range of tools, and make it easier to stay on top of your dissertation. 

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Dissertation Strategies

What this handout is about.

This handout suggests strategies for developing healthy writing habits during your dissertation journey. These habits can help you maintain your writing momentum, overcome anxiety and procrastination, and foster wellbeing during one of the most challenging times in graduate school.

Tackling a giant project

Because dissertations are, of course, big projects, it’s no surprise that planning, writing, and revising one can pose some challenges! It can help to think of your dissertation as an expanded version of a long essay: at the end of the day, it is simply another piece of writing. You’ve written your way this far into your degree, so you’ve got the skills! You’ll develop a great deal of expertise on your topic, but you may still be a novice with this genre and writing at this length. Remember to give yourself some grace throughout the project. As you begin, it’s helpful to consider two overarching strategies throughout the process.

First, take stock of how you learn and your own writing processes. What strategies have worked and have not worked for you? Why? What kind of learner and writer are you? Capitalize on what’s working and experiment with new strategies when something’s not working. Keep in mind that trying out new strategies can take some trial-and-error, and it’s okay if a new strategy that you try doesn’t work for you. Consider why it may not have been the best for you, and use that reflection to consider other strategies that might be helpful to you.

Second, break the project into manageable chunks. At every stage of the process, try to identify specific tasks, set small, feasible goals, and have clear, concrete strategies for achieving each goal. Small victories can help you establish and maintain the momentum you need to keep yourself going.

Below, we discuss some possible strategies to keep you moving forward in the dissertation process.

Pre-dissertation planning strategies

Get familiar with the Graduate School’s Thesis and Dissertation Resources .

Create a template that’s properly formatted. The Grad School offers workshops on formatting in Word for PC and formatting in Word for Mac . There are online templates for LaTeX users, but if you use a template, save your work where you can recover it if the template has corrruption issues.

Learn how to use a citation-manager and a synthesis matrix to keep track of all of your source information.

Skim other dissertations from your department, program, and advisor. Enlist the help of a librarian or ask your advisor for a list of recent graduates whose work you can look up. Seeing what other people have done to earn their PhD can make the project much less abstract and daunting. A concrete sense of expectations will help you envision and plan. When you know what you’ll be doing, try to find a dissertation from your department that is similar enough that you can use it as a reference model when you run into concerns about formatting, structure, level of detail, etc.

Think carefully about your committee . Ideally, you’ll be able to select a group of people who work well with you and with each other. Consult with your advisor about who might be good collaborators for your project and who might not be the best fit. Consider what classes you’ve taken and how you “vibe” with those professors or those you’ve met outside of class. Try to learn what you can about how they’ve worked with other students. Ask about feedback style, turnaround time, level of involvement, etc., and imagine how that would work for you.

Sketch out a sensible drafting order for your project. Be open to writing chapters in “the wrong order” if it makes sense to start somewhere other than the beginning. You could begin with the section that seems easiest for you to write to gain momentum.

Design a productivity alliance with your advisor . Talk with them about potential projects and a reasonable timeline. Discuss how you’ll work together to keep your work moving forward. You might discuss having a standing meeting to discuss ideas or drafts or issues (bi-weekly? monthly?), your advisor’s preferences for drafts (rough? polished?), your preferences for what you’d like feedback on (early or late drafts?), reasonable turnaround time for feedback (a week? two?), and anything else you can think of to enter the collaboration mindfully.

Design a productivity alliance with your colleagues . Dissertation writing can be lonely, but writing with friends, meeting for updates over your beverage of choice, and scheduling non-working social times can help you maintain healthy energy. See our tips on accountability strategies for ideas to support each other.

Productivity strategies

Write when you’re most productive. When do you have the most energy? Focus? Creativity? When are you most able to concentrate, either because of your body rhythms or because there are fewer demands on your time? Once you determine the hours that are most productive for you (you may need to experiment at first), try to schedule those hours for dissertation work. See the collection of time management tools and planning calendars on the Learning Center’s Tips & Tools page to help you think through the possibilities. If at all possible, plan your work schedule, errands and chores so that you reserve your productive hours for the dissertation.

Put your writing time firmly on your calendar . Guard your writing time diligently. You’ll probably be invited to do other things during your productive writing times, but do your absolute best to say no and to offer alternatives. No one would hold it against you if you said no because you’re teaching a class at that time—and you wouldn’t feel guilty about saying no. Cultivating the same hard, guilt-free boundaries around your writing time will allow you preserve the time you need to get this thing done!

Develop habits that foster balance . You’ll have to work very hard to get this dissertation finished, but you can do that without sacrificing your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Think about how you can structure your work hours most efficiently so that you have time for a healthy non-work life. It can be something as small as limiting the time you spend chatting with fellow students to a few minutes instead of treating the office or lab as a space for extensive socializing. Also see above for protecting your time.

Write in spaces where you can be productive. Figure out where you work well and plan to be there during your dissertation work hours. Do you get more done on campus or at home? Do you prefer quiet and solitude, like in a library carrel? Do you prefer the buzz of background noise, like in a coffee shop? Are you aware of the UNC Libraries’ list of places to study ? If you get “stuck,” don’t be afraid to try a change of scenery. The variety may be just enough to get your brain going again.

Work where you feel comfortable . Wherever you work, make sure you have whatever lighting, furniture, and accessories you need to keep your posture and health in good order. The University Health and Safety office offers guidelines for healthy computer work . You’re more likely to spend time working in a space that doesn’t physically hurt you. Also consider how you could make your work space as inviting as possible. Some people find that it helps to have pictures of family and friends on their desk—sort of a silent “cheering section.” Some people work well with neutral colors around them, and others prefer bright colors that perk up the space. Some people like to put inspirational quotations in their workspace or encouraging notes from friends and family. You might try reconfiguring your work space to find a décor that helps you be productive.

Elicit helpful feedback from various people at various stages . You might be tempted to keep your writing to yourself until you think it’s brilliant, but you can lower the stakes tremendously if you make eliciting feedback a regular part of your writing process. Your friends can feel like a safer audience for ideas or drafts in their early stages. Someone outside your department may provide interesting perspectives from their discipline that spark your own thinking. See this handout on getting feedback for productive moments for feedback, the value of different kinds of feedback providers, and strategies for eliciting what’s most helpful to you. Make this a recurring part of your writing process. Schedule it to help you hit deadlines.

Change the writing task . When you don’t feel like writing, you can do something different or you can do something differently. Make a list of all the little things you need to do for a given section of the dissertation, no matter how small. Choose a task based on your energy level. Work on Grad School requirements: reformat margins, work on bibliography, and all that. Work on your acknowledgements. Remember all the people who have helped you and the great ideas they’ve helped you develop. You may feel more like working afterward. Write a part of your dissertation as a letter or email to a good friend who would care. Sometimes setting aside the academic prose and just writing it to a buddy can be liberating and help you get the ideas out there. You can make it sound smart later. Free-write about why you’re stuck, and perhaps even about how sick and tired you are of your dissertation/advisor/committee/etc. Venting can sometimes get you past the emotions of writer’s block and move you toward creative solutions. Open a separate document and write your thoughts on various things you’ve read. These may or may note be coherent, connected ideas, and they may or may not make it into your dissertation. They’re just notes that allow you to think things through and/or note what you want to revisit later, so it’s perfectly fine to have mistakes, weird organization, etc. Just let your mind wander on paper.

Develop habits that foster productivity and may help you develop a productive writing model for post-dissertation writing . Since dissertations are very long projects, cultivating habits that will help support your work is important. You might check out Helen Sword’s work on behavioral, artisanal, social, and emotional habits to help you get a sense of where you are in your current habits. You might try developing “rituals” of work that could help you get more done. Lighting incense, brewing a pot of a particular kind of tea, pulling out a favorite pen, and other ritualistic behaviors can signal your brain that “it is time to get down to business.” You can critically think about your work methods—not only about what you like to do, but also what actually helps you be productive. You may LOVE to listen to your favorite band while you write, for example, but if you wind up playing air guitar half the time instead of writing, it isn’t a habit worth keeping.

The point is, figure out what works for you and try to do it consistently. Your productive habits will reinforce themselves over time. If you find yourself in a situation, however, that doesn’t match your preferences, don’t let it stop you from working on your dissertation. Try to be flexible and open to experimenting. You might find some new favorites!

Motivational strategies

Schedule a regular activity with other people that involves your dissertation. Set up a coworking date with your accountability buddies so you can sit and write together. Organize a chapter swap. Make regular appointments with your advisor. Whatever you do, make sure it’s something that you’ll feel good about showing up for–and will make you feel good about showing up for others.

Try writing in sprints . Many writers have discovered that the “Pomodoro technique” (writing for 25 minutes and taking a 5 minute break) boosts their productivity by helping them set small writing goals, focus intently for short periods, and give their brains frequent rests. See how one dissertation writer describes it in this blog post on the Pomodoro technique .

Quit while you’re ahead . Sometimes it helps to stop for the day when you’re on a roll. If you’ve got a great idea that you’re developing and you know where you want to go next, write “Next, I want to introduce x, y, and z and explain how they’re related—they all have the same characteristics of 1 and 2, and that clinches my theory of Q.” Then save the file and turn off the computer, or put down the notepad. When you come back tomorrow, you will already know what to say next–and all that will be left is to say it. Hopefully, the momentum will carry you forward.

Write your dissertation in single-space . When you need a boost, double space it and be impressed with how many pages you’ve written.

Set feasible goals–and celebrate the achievements! Setting and achieving smaller, more reasonable goals ( SMART goals ) gives you success, and that success can motivate you to focus on the next small step…and the next one.

Give yourself rewards along the way . When you meet a writing goal, reward yourself with something you normally wouldn’t have or do–this can be anything that will make you feel good about your accomplishment.

Make the act of writing be its own reward . For example, if you love a particular coffee drink from your favorite shop, save it as a special drink to enjoy during your writing time.

Try giving yourself “pre-wards” —positive experiences that help you feel refreshed and recharged for the next time you write. You don’t have to “earn” these with prior work, but you do have to commit to doing the work afterward.

Commit to doing something you don’t want to do if you don’t achieve your goal. Some people find themselves motivated to work harder when there’s a negative incentive. What would you most like to avoid? Watching a movie you hate? Donating to a cause you don’t support? Whatever it is, how can you ensure enforcement? Who can help you stay accountable?

Affective strategies

Build your confidence . It is not uncommon to feel “imposter phenomenon” during the course of writing your dissertation. If you start to feel this way, it can help to take a few minutes to remember every success you’ve had along the way. You’ve earned your place, and people have confidence in you for good reasons. It’s also helpful to remember that every one of the brilliant people around you is experiencing the same lack of confidence because you’re all in a new context with new tasks and new expectations. You’re not supposed to have it all figured out. You’re supposed to have uncertainties and questions and things to learn. Remember that they wouldn’t have accepted you to the program if they weren’t confident that you’d succeed. See our self-scripting handout for strategies to turn these affirmations into a self-script that you repeat whenever you’re experiencing doubts or other negative thoughts. You can do it!

Appreciate your successes . Not meeting a goal isn’t a failure–and it certainly doesn’t make you a failure. It’s an opportunity to figure out why you didn’t meet the goal. It might simply be that the goal wasn’t achievable in the first place. See the SMART goal handout and think through what you can adjust. Even if you meant to write 1500 words, focus on the success of writing 250 or 500 words that you didn’t have before.

Remember your “why.” There are a whole host of reasons why someone might decide to pursue a PhD, both personally and professionally. Reflecting on what is motivating to you can rekindle your sense of purpose and direction.

Get outside support . Sometimes it can be really helpful to get an outside perspective on your work and anxieties as a way of grounding yourself. Participating in groups like the Dissertation Support group through CAPS and the Dissertation Boot Camp can help you see that you’re not alone in the challenges. You might also choose to form your own writing support group with colleagues inside or outside your department.

Understand and manage your procrastination . When you’re writing a long dissertation, it can be easy to procrastinate! For instance, you might put off writing because the house “isn’t clean enough” or because you’re not in the right “space” (mentally or physically) to write, so you put off writing until the house is cleaned and everything is in its right place. You may have other ways of procrastinating. It can be helpful to be self-aware of when you’re procrastinating and to consider why you are procrastinating. It may be that you’re anxious about writing the perfect draft, for example, in which case you might consider: how can I focus on writing something that just makes progress as opposed to being “perfect”? There are lots of different ways of managing procrastination; one way is to make a schedule of all the things you already have to do (when you absolutely can’t write) to help you visualize those chunks of time when you can. See this handout on procrastination for more strategies and tools for managing procrastination.

Your topic, your advisor, and your committee: Making them work for you

By the time you’ve reached this stage, you have probably already defended a dissertation proposal, chosen an advisor, and begun working with a committee. Sometimes, however, those three elements can prove to be major external sources of frustration. So how can you manage them to help yourself be as productive as possible?

Managing your topic

Remember that your topic is not carved in stone . The research and writing plan suggested in your dissertation proposal was your best vision of the project at that time, but topics evolve as the research and writing progress. You might need to tweak your research question a bit to reduce or adjust the scope, you might pare down certain parts of the project or add others. You can discuss your thoughts on these adjustments with your advisor at your check ins.

Think about variables that could be cut down and how changes would affect the length, depth, breadth, and scholarly value of your study. Could you cut one or two experiments, case studies, regions, years, theorists, or chapters and still make a valuable contribution or, even more simply, just finish?

Talk to your advisor about any changes you might make . They may be quite sympathetic to your desire to shorten an unwieldy project and may offer suggestions.

Look at other dissertations from your department to get a sense of what the chapters should look like. Reverse-outline a few chapters so you can see if there’s a pattern of typical components and how information is sequenced. These can serve as models for your own dissertation. See this video on reverse outlining to see the technique.

Managing your advisor

Embrace your evolving status . At this stage in your graduate career, you should expect to assume some independence. By the time you finish your project, you will know more about your subject than your committee does. The student/teacher relationship you have with your advisor will necessarily change as you take this big step toward becoming their colleague.

Revisit the alliance . If the interaction with your advisor isn’t matching the original agreement or the original plan isn’t working as well as it could, schedule a conversation to revisit and redesign your working relationship in a way that could work for both of you.

Be specific in your feedback requests . Tell your advisor what kind of feedback would be most helpful to you. Sometimes an advisor can be giving unhelpful or discouraging feedback without realizing it. They might make extensive sentence-level edits when you really need conceptual feedback, or vice-versa, if you only ask generally for feedback. Letting your advisor know, very specifically, what kinds of responses will be helpful to you at different stages of the writing process can help your advisor know how to help you.

Don’t hide . Advisors can be most helpful if they know what you are working on, what problems you are experiencing, and what progress you have made. If you haven’t made the progress you were hoping for, it only makes it worse if you avoid talking to them. You rob yourself of their expertise and support, and you might start a spiral of guilt, shame, and avoidance. Even if it’s difficult, it may be better to be candid about your struggles.

Talk to other students who have the same advisor . You may find that they have developed strategies for working with your advisor that could help you communicate more effectively with them.

If you have recurring problems communicating with your advisor , you can make a change. You could change advisors completely, but a less dramatic option might be to find another committee member who might be willing to serve as a “secondary advisor” and give you the kinds of feedback and support that you may need.

Managing your committee

Design the alliance . Talk with your committee members about how much they’d like to be involved in your writing process, whether they’d like to see chapter drafts or the complete draft, how frequently they’d like to meet (or not), etc. Your advisor can guide you on how committees usually work, but think carefully about how you’d like the relationship to function too.

Keep in regular contact with your committee , even if they don’t want to see your work until it has been approved by your advisor. Let them know about fellowships you receive, fruitful research excursions, the directions your thinking is taking, and the plans you have for completion. In short, keep them aware that you are working hard and making progress. Also, look for other ways to get facetime with your committee even if it’s not a one-on-one meeting. Things like speaking with them at department events, going to colloquiums or other events they organize and/or attend regularly can help you develop a relationship that could lead to other introductions and collaborations as your career progresses.

Share your struggles . Too often, we only talk to our professors when we’re making progress and hide from them the rest of the time. If you share your frustrations or setbacks with a knowledgeable committee member, they might offer some very helpful suggestions for overcoming the obstacles you face—after all, your committee members have all written major research projects before, and they have probably solved similar problems in their own work.

Stay true to yourself . Sometimes, you just don’t entirely gel with your committee, but that’s okay. It’s important not to get too hung up on how your committee does (or doesn’t) relate to you. Keep your eye on the finish line and keep moving forward.

Helpful websites:

Graduate School Diversity Initiatives : Groups and events to support the success of students identifying with an affinity group.

Graduate School Career Well : Extensive professional development resources related to writing, research, networking, job search, etc.

CAPS Therapy Groups : CAPS offers a variety of support groups, including a dissertation support group.

Advice on Research and Writing : Lots of links on writing, public speaking, dissertation management, burnout, and more.

How to be a Good Graduate Student: Marie DesJardins’ essay talks about several phases of the graduate experience, including the dissertation. She discusses some helpful hints for staying motivated and doing consistent work.

Preparing Future Faculty : This page, a joint project of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the Council of Graduate Schools, and the Pew Charitable Trusts, explains the Preparing Future Faculty Programs and includes links and suggestions that may help graduate students and their advisors think constructively about the process of graduate education as a step toward faculty responsibilities.

Dissertation Tips : Kjell Erik Rudestam, Ph.D. and Rae Newton, Ph.D., authors of Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process.

The ABD Survival Guide Newsletter : Information about the ABD Survival Guide newsletter (which is free) and other services from E-Coach (many of which are not free).

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Library Guides

Dissertations 1: getting started: planning.

• Starting Your Dissertation
• Choosing A Topic and Researching
• Devising An Approach/Method
• Thinking Of A Title
• Writing A Proposal

Planning Your Time

The dissertation is a large project, so it needs careful planning. To organise your time, you can try the following:  

Break down the dissertation into smaller stages to complete (e.g., literature search, read materials, data collection, write literature review section…). 

Create a schedule. Working backwards from your deadline, decide when you will complete each stage. 

Set aside time to regularly work on the dissertation. 

Consider what times of day you are most alert and what makes a suitable space to study. 

Identify a specific task to work on. 

If overwhelmed, try to identify one task that needs doing rather than focusing on the larger project. 

Leave time to redraft, proof-read, format, and complete the reference list. 

Gantt Charts

As the dissertation project involves certain processes to take place simultaneously, rather than in a sequence, you can use a Gantt chart to organise your time.  

A Gantt chart is a bar chart which shows the schedule for a project. The project is broken down into key tasks/elements to be completed. A start and finish date for each task/element of the project is given. Some tasks are scheduled at the same time or may overlap. Others will start when a task has been completed. 

To produce a Gantt chart, you can use Word, Excel (see example in the attachment) or an online planner.

• Tom's Planner . There's  an example  for you to use to complete your plan. 
• Excel:  example of Gantt Chart in Excel . This is an example of a Gantt chart which can be used to generate a plan of work (timeline) for your dissertation. You can download and edit it as you please. The chart has been created by the University of Leicester. 

Research Data Management

This video helps you to understand the importance of research data management and how you can plan, organise, store, preserve, and share your data.

• Link to video on Research Data Management
• Feedback Form Please give us feedback on our videos!
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• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/starting-your-dissertation

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Dissertation Structure Strategies: A Roadmap to Academic Success

Dissertations, often hailed as the pinnacle of academic achievement, represent the culmination of years of research, dedication, and intellectual prowess. They are your opportunity to make a significant contribution to your field of study, a chance to leave your mark on the academic world.

What might surprise you, however, is that the average dissertation contains roughly 80,000 to 100,000 words—equivalent to a short novel! These comprehensive research projects require not just intellectual prowess but also a clear, well-structured roadmap to guide readers through your academic exploration.

These research documents are vital as they allow scholars to delve deeply into a particular subject, fostering a deeper understanding of complex topics and offering the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to their respective disciplines. Structuring a dissertation effectively is crucial to communicating these contributions clearly and coherently.

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How to Structure Your Dissertation

The structure of a dissertation is the blueprint that underpins your entire research endeavor, a scaffold upon which the intricate layers of your study will be built. Like a skilled craftsman, a well-structured piece ensures that your ideas flow logically, offering readers a clear and engaging path through your scholarly exploration. In the following sections, we will delve into the essential dissertation chapters that compose its structural framework, equipping you with the knowledge and tools necessary to create a research document that stands as a testament to your academic rigor and expertise.

Introduction

The introduction is your first opportunity to set the stage, frame the research problem, and provide a roadmap for what lies ahead. This section typically encompasses the following key elements:

• Contextualization : Begin by introducing the broader context of your research. Why is the topic important, and how does it fit into the larger field of study? For instance, if your own research, as outlined on the title page, explores the impact of climate change on agriculture, you might highlight the growing global concern over environmental issues and their implications for food security.
• Problem Statement : Clearly state the specific problem or research question your research aims to address. Make it concise and thought-provoking. For example, 'How can sustainable agricultural practices mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on crop yields in developing countries?'
• Objectives and Hypotheses : Outline the objectives of your research and any hypotheses you intend to test. For the above problem statement, you might state that your objectives are to analyze existing agricultural practices, assess their sustainability, and test the hypothesis that sustainable methods can enhance crop resilience in the face of climate change.
• Justification : Why is your research significant? What knowledge gaps will it fill? Perhaps you'll mention the lack of comprehensive studies on sustainable agriculture in specific regions or the urgency of addressing food security in the face of climate-related challenges.
• Scope and Limitations : Define the scope of your academic writing, setting clear boundaries on what you will and won't cover. Mention any potential limitations, such as constraints on data availability or time for fieldwork.

Questions to Consider :

• What led me to choose this topic, and how does it resonate with my academic interests?
• How does my research relate to existing knowledge in the field?
• What are the specific challenges or gaps in the current literature that my actual research addresses?
• What are the broader implications of my research findings?

By addressing these components in your introduction, you'll provide readers with a solid foundation for understanding the purpose and significance of your research project. It's your opportunity to engage their interest and prepare them for the intellectual voyage that follows in the subsequent chapters.

Experimental Design

In these pivotal parts of a dissertation, you'll delve into the heart of your research process: the experimental design. Here, you will describe in detail how you conducted your study, the methods employed, and the rationale behind your choices. The chapter typically consists of the following key components:

• Research Methodology : Begin by explaining the research methodology you've chosen. Common methodologies include qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, case studies, surveys, or experiments. Each has its own strengths and limitations, so justify your choice based on what best suits your research question.
• Data Collection : Describe how you collected the data. What instruments or tools did you use? For instance, if your study involves surveys, specify the survey questions and distribution methods. If it's a laboratory experiment, explain the equipment and procedures.
• Sampling : Detail the process of selecting your sample. Who or what is included, and why? If your research involves human subjects, address ethical considerations and provide evidence of any necessary approvals from ethics committees.
• Variables and Measurements : Clearly define the variables under investigation and the measurements you used. Explain how each variable was operationalized. If you're measuring something like crop yield in agriculture, specify the units of measurement, tools, and techniques.
• Data Analysis : Briefly introduce the statistical or analytical methods you'll employ to analyze the data. If your research is qualitative, describe the approach you'll use for coding and thematic analysis.
• Pilot Study : Mention any pilot studies or pre-tests you conducted to refine your methodology. This demonstrates your commitment to the rigor of your research.
• Validity and Reliability : Address the validity and reliability of your research methods. How did you ensure that your data collection tools measure what they are supposed to, and how consistently do they do so?
• Limitations : Acknowledge any limitations in your experimental design. No study is perfect, and recognizing limitations demonstrates transparency and thoughtful evaluation of your research.
• Why did you choose this specific methodology and data collection techniques?
• How did you mitigate potential biases or confounding variables?
• What challenges did you encounter during data collection, and how did you overcome them?
• What steps did you take to ensure the credibility and trustworthiness of your findings?

The Results chapter is where the fruits of your research labor come to light. Here, you'll present the outcomes of your study, providing a clear and objective account of the data you've collected. This section is crucial for demonstrating the empirical support for your research hypothesis or objectives. It typically includes the following components:

• Data Presentation : Begin by presenting your data in a clear and organized manner. This can involve tables, graphs, charts, and textual descriptions. Make sure to label and title all visual representations and use clear, concise language when discussing the findings.
• Descriptive Statistics : If applicable, provide descriptive statistics, such as means, medians, and standard deviations, to summarize your data. This helps readers quickly grasp the central tendencies and variations in your results.
• Inferential Statistics : If your study involves statistical analysis, present the results of your tests or models. Explain the statistical significance of your findings and their implications for your research question.
• Relationships and Patterns : Interpret the data by discussing any observed relationships, patterns, or trends. Are there any noteworthy correlations or variations? Are the results in line with your expectations, or do they challenge your initial hypotheses?
• Validity and Reliability : Reflect on the validity and reliability of your results. Discuss any potential sources of error or bias and explain how you addressed them during the data collection and analysis phases.
• Negative or Null Results : Be candid about any findings that did not support your hypotheses or expectations. This transparency is essential for a comprehensive research account.
• Comparisons : If your study involves multiple groups, conditions, or variables, make comparisons to highlight differences or similarities. Use appropriate statistical tests to support your comparisons.
• Visual Aids : Consider using visual aids, like charts and graphs, to illustrate key findings. These can make complex data more accessible to your readers.
• How do the results align with your research objectives and hypotheses?
• What are the most important findings, and what do they mean in the context of your study?
• Are there any unexpected or anomalous results, and how can you explain them?
• How do the results contribute to the broader understanding of the topic in your field?

The Discussion chapter is the intellectual nucleus of your dissertation, where you dissect and interpret the results you've presented in the previous section. According to our essay service experts, here, you'll not only explain the significance of your findings but also relate them to existing knowledge in your field.

• Interpretation of Results : Begin by interpreting the results of your study. Explain what the data you've presented in the Results chapter means in the context of your research objectives and hypotheses.
• Comparison with Existing Literature : Relate your findings to the existing research in your field, as explored in the literature review chapter. Discuss how your results align with or differ from previous research, and articulate the implications of these comparisons.
• Theoretical Framework : If your research is rooted in a particular theoretical framework, discuss how your results support, challenge, or expand this framework.
• Answering Research Questions : Address each of your research questions or hypotheses one by one, indicating whether they were confirmed or refuted by your data.
• Limitations Revisited : Revisit the limitations you identified in the earlier chapters and discuss how they may have influenced your results. This demonstrates your awareness of the study's constraints and their potential impact, underscoring your research skills in critically evaluating your work.
• Implications : Explore the broader implications of your findings. How do they contribute to the advancement of knowledge in your field? Are there practical applications or policy implications stemming from your research?

Questions to Consider as per our dissertation service experts:

• What do your results reveal about the topic of your dissertation?
• How do your findings compare to previous research, and what do these comparisons signify?
• What theoretical, practical, or policy implications can be drawn from your research?
• How have you addressed the research questions or hypotheses that guided your study?

Whether you buy dissertation or write yourself, remember that the discussion chapter is an opportunity to articulate the broader significance of your research. By providing a clear and insightful analysis of your findings and their implications, you create a compelling narrative that underscores the value of your work.

While learning how to structure a dissertation, the Conclusion chapter serves as the culminating segment as it brings together the key elements of your study. This is your chance to offer a succinct yet comprehensive synthesis of your work and its implications. This section typically comprises the following components:

• Restate Research Objectives : Begin by reiterating the primary research objectives or questions that guided your research project. Concisely remind your readers of the core focus of your study.
• Summary of Key Findings : Provide a condensed summary of the most significant findings from your research. Highlight the main takeaways without delving into exhaustive detail.
• Contributions to the Field : Emphasize the contributions your research has made to the field. Discuss how your study has added to existing knowledge, addressed research gaps, or opened new avenues for exploration.
• Practical and Theoretical Implications : Elaborate on the practical and theoretical implications of your findings. Consider the real-world applications, policy recommendations, or theoretical advancements your research suggests.
• Final Thoughts on Hypotheses : Reflect on whether your research hypotheses were supported by the data. If they were not, discuss what this means in the context of your study and the broader field.
• Closing Remarks : Offer some closing remarks that encapsulate the essence of your research. This is an opportunity to leave a lasting impression on your readers by tying together the threads of your study.
• Research Journey Reflection : Share your personal reflections on the research journey. Discuss the challenges you encountered, the insights you gained, and the significance of the experience.
• Future Directions : Suggest possible avenues for future research based on the findings and questions that have emerged from your work. Highlight the ongoing conversation in your field and how your research can contribute.
• How do your findings and contributions align with your initial research objectives and the broader context of your field?
• What key messages do you want readers to take away from your research project?
• How has your research advanced the academic discourse and addressed gaps in the literature?
• What further research opportunities have emerged as a result of your study?

Final Perspective

As you learn how to write a dissertation , it's essential to keep in mind that this journey is not just about academic rigor; it's also an opportunity for personal and intellectual growth. Along the way, you'll encounter challenges, make discoveries, and contribute to the ever-evolving landscape of human knowledge.

Here are some unique and specific education dissertation topics you may find useful for your endeavor:

• Digital Privacy and Surveillance in the Age of Smart Cities : Investigate the ethical and legal implications of increased digital surveillance in urban environments.
• The Psychology of Decision-Making in Extreme Environments : Analyze the cognitive and emotional factors influencing decision-making in high-stress, life-threatening situations, such as emergency medicine or space exploration.
• The Role of Music Therapy in Pediatric Pain Management : Explore the effectiveness of music therapy in alleviating pain and anxiety in children undergoing medical procedures.
• Preserving Indigenous Languages in the Digital Age : Investigate the role of technology and social media in revitalizing and preserving endangered indigenous languages.
• Psychological Impact of Virtual Reality (VR) Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) : Evaluate the therapeutic potential of VR in treating PTSD and related mental health conditions.

These topics cover a wide range of subjects and offer unique perspectives that can make your master's dissertation or journal articles both engaging and impactful within your chosen field.

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is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

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Organizing Papers and References without Losing your Mind

In January, Ulrike Träger wrote a great PLOS ECR post describing how to stay on top of reading during graduate school. If you haven’t read it yet, go take a look, as it’s relevant for people at all career stages. As a follow up, here are a few tips on how to keep track of the papers you want to read without losing your mind.

Choose a reference manager. Sure, you can get by creating a poster or two without a reference manager, but it’s incredibly risky to cite references by hand for manuscripts and grant proposals. Choosing and using a reference manager is also a great way to track papers as you collect them, particularly because reference managers often have powerful search functions. There are many to choose from. Some are free, like Zotero and some versions of Mendeley . Others, like Papers and EndNote , are not, though some paid programs may be free through your institution. Spend some time researching which manager fits your needs, but don’t get bogged down, you can always switch later. Personally, I have transferred references from RefWorks to Zotero to Mendeley to EndNote over the past several years without much trouble.

Choose a place to keep unread papers. Whether it’s a physical folder on your desk or a virtual folder on your desktop, it’s important to have a designated place for unread papers. This folder is more than just a storage space, it should also be a reminder for you to review unread papers. It’s tempting to download papers and forget about them, falling prey to PDF alibi syndrome , wherein you fool yourself into thinking that by downloading a paper you’ve somehow read it. So, set aside some time every few weeks (on your calendar if you need to) to review papers. You won’t necessarily read each paper in detail, but you should complete a quick skim and take a few notes. Try to resist the urge to leave notes like “finish reading later.” However, if needed, consider using notes like “need to read again before citing” for papers that were skimmed particularly quickly.

Choose how to keep track of your notes. It’s a great idea to create a summary of each paper as you read it, but where do you keep this information? Some people write separate documents for each paper (e.g., using the Rhetorical Précis Format ), others write nothing at all, but tag papers (virtually or physically) with key words. The exact components of your system matter less than having a system. Right now, I keep a running document with a few sentences about each paper I read. I also note whether I read it on paper or as a PDF so that I can find notes taken on the paper itself later. If I’m doing a deep read on a specific topic, I might also start another document that has in-depth summaries. I usually keep notes in Word documents, but it’s also possible to store these notes in many reference managers.

Choose how to file read papers. Again, having a system probably matters more than which system you choose. Given the interdisciplinary nature of science, it can be complex to file by topic. Therefore, I find it easiest to file papers by last name of the first author and the publication year. It’s also useful to include a few words in the file name that summarize its content. This will help you differentiate between articles written by authors with similar last names. So, for example, using this method, you might label this blog post as Breland_2017_tracking refs. I keep articles I’ve read in a folder labeled “Articles” that includes a folder for each letter of the alphabet. Therefore, I’d file this blog post in the “B” folder for Breland.

TL;DR. The goal of creating a system to organize papers and references is to be able to easily access them later. If you follow the steps above, it’s relatively easy to keep track of and use what you’ve read – if you want to find a paper, you can search for a key word in your reference manager and/or in your running document of article summaries and then find a copy of the paper in the appropriate alphabetized folder. That said, there is no right way to organize references and I’m curious about how others manage their files. Chime in through the comments and we’ll update the post with any interesting answers!

Pat Thomson (2015) PDF alibi syndrome , Patter blog. Accessed 2/27/17.

Ulrike Träger (2017) Ten tips to stay on top of your reading during grad school , PLoS ECR Community Blog.

Sample Rhetorical Précis: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/rhetorical-precis/sample/peirce_sample_precis_click.html

Featured image available through CC0 license.

[…] Organizing Papers And References Without Losing Your Mind – Jessica Breland […]

You have a great organizing skills! I appreciate your tips!

Fantastic tips! Thank you for sharing.

Great tips! It helps me a lot while I’m doing my final diploma project. Thank you.

This is great, very helpful. Nicely written and clearly organized [like your ref lib 😉 ] C

im at the start of my phd and already feeling that i have a lot of literature. i am taking your notes onboard and going to spend some time to organise my files asap. thanks

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9 Organizing Research: Taking and Keeping Effective Notes

Once you’ve located the right primary and secondary sources, it’s time to glean all the information you can from them. In this chapter, you’ll first get some tips on taking and organizing notes. The second part addresses how to approach the sort of intermediary assignments (such as book reviews) that are often part of a history course.

Honing your own strategy for organizing your primary and secondary research is a pathway to less stress and better paper success. Moreover, if you can find the method that helps you best organize your notes, these methods can be applied to research you do for any of your classes.

Before the personal computing revolution, most historians labored through archives and primary documents and wrote down their notes on index cards, and then found innovative ways to organize them for their purposes. When doing secondary research, historians often utilized (and many still do) pen and paper for taking notes on secondary sources. With the advent of digital photography and useful note-taking tools like OneNote, some of these older methods have been phased out – though some persist. And, most importantly, once you start using some of the newer techniques below, you may find that you are a little “old school,” and might opt to integrate some of the older techniques with newer technology.

Whether you choose to use a low-tech method of taking and organizing your notes or an app that will help you organize your research, here are a few pointers for good note-taking.

Principles of note-taking

• If you are going low-tech, choose a method that prevents a loss of any notes. Perhaps use one spiral notebook, or an accordion folder, that will keep everything for your project in one space. If you end up taking notes away from your notebook or folder, replace them—or tape them onto blank pages if you are using a notebook—as soon as possible.
• If you are going high-tech, pick one application and stick with it. Using a cloud-based app, including one that you can download to your smart phone, will allow you to keep adding to your notes even if you find yourself with time to take notes unexpectedly.
• When taking notes, whether you’re using 3X5 note cards or using an app described below, write down the author and a shortened title for the publication, along with the page number on EVERY card. We can’t emphasize this point enough; writing down the bibliographic information the first time and repeatedly will save you loads of time later when you are writing your paper and must cite all key information.
• Include keywords or “tags” that capture why you thought to take down this information in a consistent place on each note card (and when using the apps described below). If you are writing a paper about why Martin Luther King, Jr., became a successful Civil Rights movement leader, for example, you may have a few theories as you read his speeches or how those around him described his leadership. Those theories—religious beliefs, choice of lieutenants, understanding of Gandhi—might become the tags you put on each note card.
• Note-taking applications can help organize tags for you, but if you are going low tech, a good idea is to put tags on the left side of a note card, and bibliographic info on the right side.

Organizing research- applications that can help

Using images in research.

• If you are in an archive: make your first picture one that includes the formal collection name, the box number, the folder name and call numbe r and anything else that would help you relocate this information if you or someone else needed to. Do this BEFORE you start taking photos of what is in the folder.
• If you are photographing a book or something you may need to return to the library: take a picture of all the front matter (the title page, the page behind the title with all the publication information, maybe even the table of contents).

Once you have recorded where you find it, resist the urge to rename these photographs. By renaming them, they may be re-ordered and you might forget where you found them. Instead, use tags for your own purposes, and carefully name and date the folder into which the photographs were automatically sorted. There is one free, open-source program, Tropy , which is designed to help organize photos taken in archives, as well as tag, annotate, and organize them. It was developed and is supported by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. It is free to download, and you can find it here: https://tropy.org/ ; it is not, however, cloud-based, so you should back up your photos. In other cases, if an archive doesn’t allow photography (this is highly unlikely if you’ve made the trip to the archive), you might have a laptop on hand so that you can transcribe crucial documents.

Using note or project-organizing apps

When you have the time to sit down and begin taking notes on your primary sources, you can annotate your photos in Tropy. Alternatively, OneNote, which is cloud-based, can serve as a way to organize your research. OneNote allows you to create separate “Notebooks” for various projects, but this doesn’t preclude you from searching for terms or tags across projects if the need ever arises. Within each project you can start new tabs, say, for each different collection that you have documents from, or you can start new tabs for different themes that you are investigating. Just as in Tropy, as you go through taking notes on your documents you can create your own “tags” and place them wherever you want in the notes.

Another powerful, free tool to help organize research, especially secondary research though not exclusively, is Zotero found @ https://www.zotero.org/ . Once downloaded, you can begin to save sources (and their URL) that you find on the internet to Zotero. You can create main folders for each major project that you have and then subfolders for various themes if you would like. Just like the other software mentioned, you can create notes and tags about each source, and Zotero can also be used to create bibliographies in the precise format that you will be using. Obviously, this function is super useful when doing a long-term, expansive project like a thesis or dissertation.

How History is Made: A Student’s Guide to Reading, Writing, and Thinking in the Discipline Copyright © 2022 by Stephanie Cole; Kimberly Breuer; Scott W. Palmer; and Brandon Blakeslee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Thesis and Dissertation: Getting Started

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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The resources in this section are designed to provide guidance for the first steps of the thesis or dissertation writing process. They offer tools to support the planning and managing of your project, including writing out your weekly schedule, outlining your goals, and organzing the various working elements of your project.

Weekly Goals Sheet (a.k.a. Life Map) [Word Doc]

This editable handout provides a place for you to fill in available time blocks on a weekly chart that will help you visualize the amount of time you have available to write. By using this chart, you will be able to work your writing goals into your schedule and put these goals into perspective with your day-to-day plans and responsibilities each week. This handout also contains a formula to help you determine the minimum number of pages you would need to write per day in order to complete your writing on time.

Setting a Production Schedule (Word Doc)

This editable handout can help you make sense of the various steps involved in the production of your thesis or dissertation and determine how long each step might take. A large part of this process involves (1) seeking out the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding specific document formatting requirements, (2) understanding research protocol limitations, (3) making note of deadlines, and (4) understanding your personal writing habits.

Creating a Roadmap (PDF)

Part of organizing your writing involves having a clear sense of how the different working parts relate to one another. Creating a roadmap for your dissertation early on can help you determine what the final document will include and how all the pieces are connected. This resource offers guidance on several approaches to creating a roadmap, including creating lists, maps, nut-shells, visuals, and different methods for outlining. It is important to remember that you can create more than one roadmap (or more than one type of roadmap) depending on how the different approaches discussed here meet your needs.

Research Process :: Step by Step

• Introduction
• Select Topic
• Identify Keywords
• Background Information
• Develop Research Questions
• Refine Topic
• Search Strategy
• Popular Databases
• Evaluate Sources
• Types of Periodicals
• Reading Scholarly Articles
• Primary & Secondary Sources
• Organize / Take Notes
• Writing & Grammar Resources
• Annotated Bibliography
• Literature Review
• Citation Styles
• Paraphrasing
• Privacy / Confidentiality
• Research Process
• Selecting Your Topic
• Identifying Keywords
• Gathering Background Info
• Evaluating Sources
• Zotero Guide by Morgan Rowe-Morris Last Updated Dec 8, 2023 3407 views this year
• EndNote Guide by Engineering Librarian Last Updated May 10, 2024 1455 views this year

Focus on the information in the article that is relevant to your research question (you may be able to skim over other parts).  Think critically about what you read and build your argument based on it.

Organize your Notes

• After you take notes, re-read them. 
• Then re-organize them by putting similar information together. Working with your notes involves re-grouping them by topic instead of by source. Re-group your notes by re-shuffling your index cards or by color-coding or using symbols to code notes in a notebook. 
• Review the topics of your newly-grouped notes. If the topics do not answer your research question or support your working thesis directly, you may need to do additional research or re-think your original research. 
• During this process you may find that you have taken notes that do not answer your research question or support your working thesis directly. Don't be afraid to throw them away. 

It may have struck you that you just read a lot of "re" words: re-read, re-organize, re-group, re-shuffle, re-think. That's right; working with your notes essentially means going back and reviewing how this "new" information fits with your own thoughts about the topic or issue of the research.

Grouping your notes will enable you to outline the major sections and then the paragraphs of your research paper.

https://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/research/research-paper-steps/taking-notes/

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• How to Write a Discussion Section | Tips & Examples

How to Write a Discussion Section | Tips & Examples

Published on 21 August 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 25 October 2022.

The discussion section is where you delve into the meaning, importance, and relevance of your results .

It should focus on explaining and evaluating what you found, showing how it relates to your literature review , and making an argument in support of your overall conclusion . It should not be a second results section .

There are different ways to write this section, but you can focus your writing around these key elements:

• Summary: A brief recap of your key results
• Interpretations: What do your results mean?
• Implications: Why do your results matter?
• Limitations: What can’t your results tell us?
• Recommendations: Avenues for further studies or analyses

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Table of contents

What not to include in your discussion section, step 1: summarise your key findings, step 2: give your interpretations, step 3: discuss the implications, step 4: acknowledge the limitations, step 5: share your recommendations, discussion section example.

There are a few common mistakes to avoid when writing the discussion section of your paper.

• Don’t introduce new results: You should only discuss the data that you have already reported in your results section .
• Don’t make inflated claims: Avoid overinterpretation and speculation that isn’t directly supported by your data.
• Don’t undermine your research: The discussion of limitations should aim to strengthen your credibility, not emphasise weaknesses or failures.

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Start this section by reiterating your research problem  and concisely summarising your major findings. Don’t just repeat all the data you have already reported – aim for a clear statement of the overall result that directly answers your main  research question . This should be no more than one paragraph.

Many students struggle with the differences between a discussion section and a results section . The crux of the matter is that your results sections should present your results, and your discussion section should subjectively evaluate them. Try not to blend elements of these two sections, in order to keep your paper sharp.

• The results indicate that …
• The study demonstrates a correlation between …
• This analysis supports the theory that …
• The data suggest  that …

The meaning of your results may seem obvious to you, but it’s important to spell out their significance for your reader, showing exactly how they answer your research question.

The form of your interpretations will depend on the type of research, but some typical approaches to interpreting the data include:

• Identifying correlations , patterns, and relationships among the data
• Discussing whether the results met your expectations or supported your hypotheses
• Contextualising your findings within previous research and theory
• Explaining unexpected results and evaluating their significance
• Considering possible alternative explanations and making an argument for your position

You can organise your discussion around key themes, hypotheses, or research questions, following the same structure as your results section. Alternatively, you can also begin by highlighting the most significant or unexpected results.

• In line with the hypothesis …
• Contrary to the hypothesised association …
• The results contradict the claims of Smith (2007) that …
• The results might suggest that x . However, based on the findings of similar studies, a more plausible explanation is x .

As well as giving your own interpretations, make sure to relate your results back to the scholarly work that you surveyed in the literature review . The discussion should show how your findings fit with existing knowledge, what new insights they contribute, and what consequences they have for theory or practice.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do your results support or challenge existing theories? If they support existing theories, what new information do they contribute? If they challenge existing theories, why do you think that is?
• Are there any practical implications?

Your overall aim is to show the reader exactly what your research has contributed, and why they should care.

• These results build on existing evidence of …
• The results do not fit with the theory that …
• The experiment provides a new insight into the relationship between …
• These results should be taken into account when considering how to …
• The data contribute a clearer understanding of …
• While previous research has focused on  x , these results demonstrate that y .

Even the best research has its limitations. Acknowledging these is important to demonstrate your credibility. Limitations aren’t about listing your errors, but about providing an accurate picture of what can and cannot be concluded from your study.

Limitations might be due to your overall research design, specific methodological choices , or unanticipated obstacles that emerged during your research process.

Here are a few common possibilities:

• If your sample size was small or limited to a specific group of people, explain how generalisability is limited.
• If you encountered problems when gathering or analysing data, explain how these influenced the results.
• If there are potential confounding variables that you were unable to control, acknowledge the effect these may have had.

After noting the limitations, you can reiterate why the results are nonetheless valid for the purpose of answering your research question.

• The generalisability of the results is limited by …
• The reliability of these data is impacted by …
• Due to the lack of data on x , the results cannot confirm …
• The methodological choices were constrained by …
• It is beyond the scope of this study to …

Based on the discussion of your results, you can make recommendations for practical implementation or further research. Sometimes, the recommendations are saved for the conclusion .

Suggestions for further research can lead directly from the limitations. Don’t just state that more studies should be done – give concrete ideas for how future work can build on areas that your own research was unable to address.

• Further research is needed to establish …
• Future studies should take into account …
• Avenues for future research include …

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Starting Your Thesis (BMC)

• Meet with Your Subject Librarian
• Narrowing Your Topic
• Getting Started with Background Reading
• Literature Reviews
• Searching Effectively

Zotero Guide

Using zotero for notetaking.

• Citing Sources
• Interlibrary Loan This link opens in a new window

Depending on your topic and your work style, you may want to use a citation manager to organize your citations and other research materials. We recommend Zotero , an open source research organizer that works with your web browser to collect sources and build your personal library as you browse.

Our  Zotero Guide has tips for new Zotero users, based on the most common questions we’ve gotten from Bryn Mawr students.

Zotero can help you manage not only citations but also your notes – be they stand-alone notes, or annotations you make about particular items in your library.  The Zotero help page on notes has more details.

Here is a brief video illustrating the organizing, tagging and note-taking fuctionality in Zotero:

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• Tags: Bryn Mawr

Organising your dissertation stuff effectively

Author: Julia Hallas, Doctoral Candidate

If you’re experiencing procrastination, depression, all-nighters and melt-downs… join me in my quest for the best writing tips. My desk has been piling up with stuff – articles, books, bits of paper I ‘think’ I really need. Drafts, notes, diagrams, photocopies and sketches of my research. My rule is to only enter references and attachments into EndNote that I will use. So the problem is all the stuff that I don’t want to put into EndNote – just yet. There’s a lot of stuff on my desk that looks interesting, that I might want to use, or that I want to keep on hand – just in case. This indecision or inability to know what to do with it all is causing me stress. It is also at odds with my previous post about having a dedicated writing space. I did mention in that post that the space should be organised. The problem was that I hadn’t tackled the issue of organising effectively.

Part of doing a PhD is learning to organise yourself, your tools and the literature you will use for your research. It’s been worrying me – how to organise all this stuff so I can find it when I need it. I’d been feeling a bit of a failure… until I learned about the April Boxes.

I was reading Robert E Stake’s – Qualitative research book (downloaded from the AUT Library to my iPad Bluefire App) ignoring the mess around me, until I hit on these words of wisdom from Stake about April Boxes. He explained how a visiting lecturer called April Munson had told his class how the boxes changed her research from being overwhelming to doable. The idea is that you identify and use the headings from information domains, research steps, topic concepts or your literature review. Whatever works for you. Draw a table on a large sheet of paper or create a table in Google docs like I did and fill it in. For example:

In all I had nine boxes. Each heading was a topic in my literature review with concepts to discuss underneath. I also included a box headed Methodology, and one called Training – for those tips I find on writing, database searching, etc.

The next step is to get a box file for each heading and label them. Then I picked up every piece of paper on my desk and filed it into the correct box file. I couldn’t believe it was so easy. I didn’t have to think twice about what went where. Every item had a box waiting for it. Within 10 minutes, my desk was clear.

Feeling successful, I moved onto my Drop box – dropbox.com – an app for storing your files in the cloud. I cleaned up my messy PhD folder, by creating subfolders for each heading from the April boxes. Then I moved all my soft copies into the folders. Today I’m all organised, everything can be found easily and I have a place for all those bits and pieces I expect to pick up along the way.

The real test came two days later when I came across a page of data gathering questions from a conference I attended recently. The presenter had asked us to complete the questions and hand them to her for her research project. Unfortunately I forgot to give them to her! But I decided to keep the questions because I want to analyse how she developed them. Where should I put this paper? I created a new box file called Data Gathering. Then I added to the box some notes I had taken on data gathering from an AUT Postgraduate Round Table session I had recently attended. It’s working!

Today I have a dedicated work space and it’s organised. So far so good. Next post, I am going to tackle my biggest problem yet – procrastinating when I should be writing!

By the way, Stake’s book on qualitative research was so good, I’ve ordered it from Amazon.

Reference Stake, R. E. (2010). Qualitative research: Studying how things work. New York: The Guilford Press.

About Annette

7 thoughts on “ organising your dissertation stuff effectively ”.

I am interested to read your next post on procrastination.. I enjoyed this post … I am not sure where to find it … I am currently a PhD(c) and trying to organize my stuff, life and work!!!!

Thanks, Sama

I do something similar but using notebooks and Zotera. I organize all my articles in Zotera using folders with the subject as the title such as Instructor Presence or Social Learning Theory. Then I organize the articles I have read in a notebook under the same title.

I also use Zotera’s Notes section to include a paragraph summary about the article.

Thanks for your tips, Samantha. I also think Zotero is really useful. I like how you use it.

Hi! Great tips! But what do you do when an article, for example, fits two or three boxes?

Hi Janna Good question. I guess you could duplicate the article and put them in all three boxes. Perhaps you have to think about the purpose of the article, what you will use it for. If you will use it in more than one place in your thesis, then highlight that area and put it in the box. Perhaps make a note that you will use it in other chapters to remind yourself. Good luck.

This works for me: I colour-code: each ‘part’ of my study gets allocated a colour (from a set of highlighter pens). On the front sheet of every document l write in big letters top right which box it fits into & l circle the name with the relevant-colour highlighter. When a document fits multiple boxes l circle the name with the colours of all the boxes it fits into, & at the same time put a single A4 sheet with the name of that doc into each of the boxes it isn’t in.

Hi. how to prepare first draft after organizing notes? will going through a perticular box file dedicated to a chapter and then start writing that chapter work?

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How to Craft Your Ideal Thesis Research Topic

Table of contents

Catherine Miller

Writing your undergraduate thesis is probably one of the most interesting parts of studying, especially because you get to choose your area of study. But as both a student and a teacher who’s helped countless students develop their research topics, I know this freedom can be just as intimidating as it is liberating.

Fortunately, there’a a step-by-step process you can follow that will help make the whole process a lot easier. In this article, I’ll show you how to choose a unique, specific thesis topic that’s true to your passions and interests, while making a contribution to your field.

Choose a topic that you’re interested in

First things first: double-check with your teachers or supervisor if there are any constraints on your research topic. Once your parameters are clear, it’s time to identify what lights you up — after all, you’re going to be spending a lot of time thinking about it.

Within your field of study, you probably already have some topics that have grabbed your attention more than others. This can be a great place to start. Additionally, consider using the rest of your academic and extra-curricular interests as a source of ideas. At this stage, you only need a broad topic before you narrow it down to a specific question. 

If you’re feeling stuck, here are some things to try:

• Look back through old course notes to remind yourself of topics you previously covered. Do any of these inspire you?
• Talk to potential supervisors about your ideas, as they can point you toward areas you might not have considered.
• Think about the things you enjoy in everyday life — whether that’s cycling, cinema, cooking, or fashion — then consider if there are any overlaps with your field of study.
• Imagine you have been asked to give a presentation or record a podcast in the next three days. What topics would you feel confident discussing?
• Watch a selection of existing lectures or explainer videos, or listen to podcasts by experts in your field. Note which topics you feel curious to explore further.
• Discuss your field of study with teachers friends and family, some with existing knowledge and some without. Which aspects do you enjoy talking about? 

By doing all this, you might uncover some unusual and exciting avenues for research. For example, when writing my Master’s dissertation, I decided to combine my field of study (English teaching methodology) with one of my passions outside work (creative writing). In my undergraduate course, a friend drew on her lived experience of disability to look into the literary portrayal of disability in the ancient world. 

Do your research

Once you’ve chosen your topic of interest, it’s time to dive into research. This is a really important part of this early process because it allows you to:

• See what other people have written about the topic — you don’t want to cover the same old ground as everyone else.
• Gain perspective on the big questions surrounding the topic. 
• Go deeper into the parts that interest you to help you decide where to focus.
• Start building your bibliography and a bank of interesting quotations. 

A great way to start is to visit your library for an introductory book. For example, the “A Very Short Introduction” series from the Oxford University Press provides overviews of a range of themes. Similar types of overviews may have the title “ A Companion to [Subject]” or “[Subject] A Student Companion”. Ask your librarian or teacher if you’re not sure where to begin. 

Your introductory volume can spark ideas for further research, and the bibliography can give you some pointers about where to go next. You can also use keywords to research online via academic sites like JStor or Google Scholar. Check which subscriptions are available via your institution.

At this stage, you may not wish to read every single paper you come across in full — this could take a very long time and not everything will be relevant. Summarizing software like Wordtune could be very useful here.

Just upload a PDF or link to an online article using Wordtune, and it will produce a summary of the whole paper with a list of key points. This helps you to quickly sift through papers to grasp their central ideas and identify which ones to read in full. 

Get Wordtune for free > Get Wordtune for free >

You can also use Wordtune for semantic search. In this case, the tool focuses its summary around your chosen search term, making it even easier to get what you need from the paper.

As you go, make sure you keep organized notes of what you’ve read, including the author and publication information and the page number of any citations you want to use. 

Some people are happy to do this process with pen and paper, but if you prefer a digital method, there are several software options, including Zotero , EndNote , and Mendeley . Your institution may have an existing subscription so check before you sign up.

Narrowing down your thesis research topic

Now you’ve read around the topic, it’s time to narrow down your ideas so you can craft your final question. For example, when it came to my undergraduate thesis, I knew I wanted to write about Ancient Greek religion and I was interested in the topic of goddesses. So, I:

• Did some wide reading around the topic of goddesses
• Learned that the goddess Hera was not as well researched as others and that there were some fascinating aspects I wanted to explore
• Decided (with my supervisor’s support) to focus on her temples in the Argive region of Greece

As part of this process, it can be helpful to consider the “5 Ws”: why, what, who, when, and where, as you move from the bigger picture to something more precise. 

Why did you choose this research topic?

Come back to the reasons you originally chose your theme. What grabbed you? Why is this topic important to you — or to the wider world? In my example, I knew I wanted to write about goddesses because, as a woman, I was interested in how a society in which female lives were often highly controlled dealt with having powerful female deities. My research highlighted Hera as one of the most powerful goddesses, tying into my key interest.

What are some of the big questions about your topic?

During your research, you’ll probably run into the same themes time and time again. Some of the questions that arise may not have been answered yet or might benefit from a fresh look. 

Equally, there may be questions that haven’t yet been asked, especially if you are approaching the topic from a modern perspective or combining research that hasn’t been considered before. This might include taking a post-colonial, feminist, or queer approach to older texts or bringing in research using new scientific methods.

In my example, I knew there were still controversies about why so many temples to the goddess Hera were built in a certain region, and was keen to explore these further.

Who is the research topic relevant to?

Considering the “who” might help you open up new avenues. Is there a particular audience you want to reach? What might they be interested in? Is this a new audience for this field? Are there people out there who might be affected by the outcome of this research — for example, people with a particular medical condition — who might be able to use your conclusions?

Which period will you focus on?

Depending on the nature of your field, you might be able to choose a timeframe, which can help narrow the topic down. For example, you might focus on historical events that took place over a handful of years, look at the impact of a work of literature at a certain point after its publication, or review scientific progress over the last five years. 

With my thesis, I decided to focus on the time when the temples were built rather than considering the hundreds of years for which they have existed, which would have taken me far too long.

Where does your topic relate to?

Place can be another means of narrowing down the topic. For example, consider the impact of your topic on a particular neighborhood, city, or country, rather than trying to process a global question. 

In my example, I chose to focus my research on one area of Greece, where there were lots of temples to Hera. This meant skipping other important locations, but including these would have made the thesis too wide-ranging.

Create an outline and get feedback

Once you have an idea of what you are going to write about, create an outline or summary and get feedback from your teacher(s). It’s okay if you don’t know exactly how you’re going to answer your thesis question yet, but based on your research you should have a rough plan of the key points you want to cover. So, for me, the outline was as follows:

• Context: who was the goddess Hera?
• Overview of her sanctuaries in the Argive region
• Their initial development 
• Political and cultural influences
• The importance of the mythical past

In the final thesis, I took a strong view on why the goddess was so important in this region, but it took more research, writing, and discussion with my supervisor to pin down my argument.

To choose a thesis research topic, find something you’re passionate about, research widely to get the big picture, and then move to a more focused view. Bringing a fresh perspective to a popular theme, finding an underserved audience who could benefit from your research, or answering a controversial question can make your thesis stand out from the crowd.

For tips on how to start writing your thesis, don’t miss our advice on writing a great research abstract and a stellar literature review . And don’t forget that Wordtune can also support you with proofreading, making it even easier to submit a polished thesis.

How do you come up with a research topic for a thesis?

To help you find a thesis topic, speak to your professor, look through your old course notes, think about what you already enjoy in everyday life, talk about your field of study with friends and family, and research podcasts and videos to find a topic that is interesting for you. It’s a good idea to refine your topic so that it’s not too general or broad.  

Do you choose your own thesis topic?

Yes, you usually choose your own thesis topic. You can get help from your professor(s), friends, and family to figure out which research topic is interesting to you. 

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What Is an Appendix In Research and How You Create the One?

Table of contents

• 1 What Is Appendix in Research Papers, Reports, and Proposals?
• 2 What Detailed Information Should Refer to in the Appendix Section?
• 3 How to Write an Appendix?
• 4 Format an Appendix: Detailed Explanation
• 5.1 Citing Sources in Your Appendix
• 5.2 Common Mistakes You Better Avoid When Writing an Appendix
• 5.3 Conclusion

The appendix is an important part of the academic writing research process since it provides additional material for research papers, reports, and proposals. Thus, this critical component enhances understanding of your work without cluttering the essential material.

Today, the writing service PapersOwl wants to explore the nuances of appendix writing so that your reader enjoys some detailed information at the end of your paper. We will cover:

• Why should you include an appendix to your research paper?
• What and How: The Essential Structure;
• How to format and where to place it:
• The significance of properly citing your sources (appendix in APA or MLA) and keeping your text consistent throughout.

Let’s not wait and get into the details of how to make an appendix effective right away.

What Is Appendix in Research Papers, Reports, and Proposals?

The first question you may ask is: What is an appendix in writing, and why might your reader need it?

Shortly, it serves as supplementary material in any type of academic writing, including an appendix in research, a report, or a proposal . Accordingly, it provides in-depth details to support the main content, enhancing understanding without cluttering the main text.

Basically, appendices provide a complete picture for the audience interested in further in-depth investigation while keeping the main text’s flow and readability.

What Detailed Information Should Refer to in the Appendix Section?

Looking at the appendix in paper definition, one can swiftly understand its importance. Therefore, you should think about the data you would like to include in your appendix for research paper or appendix in report to make it 10/10.

Appropriate appendix in literature content include:

• Raw data sets used for analysis;
• Detailed descriptions of research methodologies and data collection methods;
• Supplementary figures or charts that provide further context;
• Lengthy quotations or excerpts;
• Additional analyses or calculations that support the conclusions.

Moreover, resources such as questionnaires, transcripts of interviews, survey findings, or any other supplementary materials mentioned but not thoroughly covered in the main body of the work can be included in successful appendices example in research paper.

How to Write an Appendix?

Now, we understand what to include in your future work, but how does one write an appendix in a research paper to achieve the best outcome?

Follow a structured approach to ensure clarity and coherence. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to create an appendix you should refer to:

• Determine Supplementary Material. The first step is to decide which materials need to be added, as we did before. This might be any comprehensive material supporting your work’s primary points:
• Long tables.
• Extensive methodology.
• Supplemental figures.
• Interview transcripts.
• Other research explanations.
• Organize Your Content. Organize the contents into a logical appendix section. Create separate appendices if you have many elements, such as distinct data sets or analyses. It prevents overloading any of your readers. It is also vital to consider the type of paper you are writing. Dissertation parts may be considerably longer than research appendices, and the word count may change.
• Label and Title Each Appendix. Clearly label and title each appendix sample to make navigating your appendix section easy for the reader.
• Reference Appendices in the Main Part. Throughout the main body of your appendix section of research paper, reference relevant appendices to direct your reader to supplementary information.

This step-by-step plan will help you produce an appendix in scientific paper that will both give readers access to material supporting your conclusions and improve the overall clarity of your research paper , report, or proposal.

Format an Appendix: Detailed Explanation

There is also one more vital step in the research process ─ formatting .

Indeed, you ensure crucial consistency and readability when you structure an appendix. Guidelines for formatting often depend on the style manual format you follow, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago. Generally, appendices in research paper should follow the same formatting rules as the rest of your document. It includes font style and size, margins, and spacing.

Additionally, remember to use precise phrasing. It points readers to the appropriate appendices in research paper. Specific types of appended materials must include:

• Tables, Graphs, and Figures.
• Questionnaires or Surveys.

Any other material included in the appendix in article should be clearly labeled and organized for easy reference.

PapersOwl team promises that adhering to these formatting recommendations will ensure that your research paper appendix:

• Is neatly structured and aesthetically pleasing.
• Improves the overall quality of your work.

Where to Add an Appendix to a Research Paper?

“ Okay, but where should I set up an appendix in my research? ”. PapersOwls hears this question almost every day, but no worries, we found an answer long ago!

The appendix at the end of a paper is the most typical placement on a separate page after your research paper’s reference list or bibliography. Accordingly, this placement ensures that readers can easily access additional material without interrupting the flow of the main text. If you have more than one appendix, you should distinguish them. Use:

→ a multiple pages numbering system (e.g., Appendix 1, Appendix 2);

→ a lettering system (e.g., Appendix A, Appendix B).

Citing Sources in Your Appendix

Citing is one of the most important aspects of research and any academic work. Apparently, you should include citations in your research paper appendix!

Therefore, cite credible sources using the same citation style used in the main body of the paper (e.g., APA style, MLA). What is the easiest way to help readers easily locate and verify the sources used in the text citations? Maintain the same citation style as in the main text, whether it is a research proposal appendix or an appendix in a report!

Common Mistakes You Better Avoid When Writing an Appendix

Obviously, we understand that nothing can be perfect, and you are allowed to make mistakes while studying. Nevertheless, we recommend analyzing common errors in writing appendix pieces to avoid doing them! Don’t worry; we did it for you so you could correct everything before submitting your work!

• Overloading With Irrelevant Information. Unneeded material that does not complement the document’s core substance might overwhelm readers.
• Poor Organization. Failing to organize the appendix in a paper can confuse readers. Ensure that materials are grouped and labeled clearly.
• Inconsistent Formatting. Deviating from the formatting guidelines used in the main text can create inconsistency. To avoid this, organize an appendix uniformly in font style, size, margins, and citations.
• Lack of Clarity. Presenting supplementary information in a confusing or unclear manner can hinder understanding. For this reason, be concise and ensure that each item in the appendix of research paper serves a clear purpose.

In a nutshell, the art of an appendix in writing is necessary for creating detailed and organized papers. PapersOwl gave you this small guide so you could:

• Quickly identify relevant extra information.
• Organize content logically.
• Maintain formatting and consistent in-text citations.

In fact, a well-written appendix page improves the primary text’s clarity and adds to the research’s overall credibility. Thus, the appendix for a paper is an important tool for scholars who want to give clear, comprehensive documentation of their work. It may also be proof of your hard work.

With the PapersOwl’s guide, your research paper appendix example will promote deeper comprehension of the study issue!

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Working Interinstitutionally to Apprentice Doctoral Students in Mathematics Education Research

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In this editorial, I return to the topic of reproducing capacity for research in mathematics education, given the current challenges in maintaining doctoral programs specific to our field, following the November and January editorials ( Herbst, 2023 , 2024 ). Drawing on the notions of niches and intellectual communities that were discussed in the second conference on doctoral programs in mathematics education ( Hiebert et al., 2008 ; Reys & Dossey, 2008 ), I propose that the reproduction of research capacity in our field could be organized around interinstitutional research niches that cultivate specific practices of mathematics education research.

In Herbst (2023) , I reflected on the looming crisis in how U.S. universities have organized the pursuit of doctoral degrees. I used the expression schooling of the doctorate to refer to how American universities have assimilated the pursuit of doctoral degrees into their formal educational function. Framing doctorates as instructional programs has curricular and financial implications that have contributed to seeing the doctorate as an expensive educational service that universities provide to individuals. This schooling of the doctorate in education specialties is in crisis because maintaining a diversity of doctoral specializations is expensive, and graduates are less likely than before to find faculty jobs in a U.S. university system that is shrinking ( Mathews et al., 2023 ). Programs are thus collapsing specializations into more general doctoral programs or emphasizing individual students’ interests and goals.

Whereas the doctoral degree is indeed a means to recognize individual accomplishment, and the pursuit of the degree is an incredible opportunity for individuals to learn, the framing of the pursuit of the doctorate as an instructional program provided to individuals does not emphasize enough the public value and public responsibility that go along with the resources allocated to doctoral preparation. When I say public value and responsibility, I consider the “public” to refer just as much to the profession and field of knowledge production as to community and nation. In Herbst (2023) , I noted that, beyond recognizing individual accomplishment, doctoral degrees also serve the important functions of certification of socially valued expertise and reproduction 1 of the conditions of production of scholarly knowledge. Because of that, I argued that the doctorate is part of the infrastructure of our research field and that if universities are unable or unwilling to support instructional programs that prepare researchers specialized in our field, we—as stewards of our field—need to seek other ways to accomplish our goals. In Herbst (2024) , I described one way our research field could organize to provide some specialization in the form of interinstitutional courses that help organize past research and frame new inquiries. In this editorial, I contemplate how we could organize our research activities to support doctoral students’ (and probably others’) learning to do research from their involvement in research work while also contributing to the research infrastructure of our field.

• The Value of Research Capacity as a Purpose of Doctoral Preparation

The public-oriented purposes of doctoral preparation—certification of professional expertise and reproduction of research capacity—have varied in their importance across sets of fields and university tiers over time. Fulfilling its function of certification of professional expertise, the doctorate in mathematics education has supported the staffing of college teaching positions (in undergraduate mathematics or in mathematics teacher education programs) and positions in mathematics education leadership in districts and governments or curriculum development for nonprofits and commercial publishers. Fulfilling its function of reproduction of research capacity, the doctorate in mathematics education has enabled substantial growth in mathematics education research over the decades, not only in the number of publications produced but also in foci of research, methodologies, and theories ( Ahl et al., 2023 ; Dubbs, 2021 ; Gökçe & Guner, 2021 ; Inglis & Foster, 2018 ; Julius et al., 2021 ; Yiğ, 2022 ). Often, the same individuals have fulfilled these two public purposes of the doctorate: Graduates of doctoral programs have taken positions at research universities, where they have taught mathematics and teacher education, written curricula and participated in teacher development, and engaged in research. Often, however, holders of doctoral degrees in mathematics education have taken positions that give much more emphasis to only one of those two purposes. Some have been employed as faculty in predominantly teaching institutions, where they have done a lot of teaching and have not been expected to produce more than a minimum amount of research. Yet others have been employed as researchers in districts or government offices, evaluation organizations, and research nonprofits (or as research scientists at universities), where they work on research full time. As we take stock of what the crisis in the schooling of the doctorate means for our research field, we must consider the changing employment landscape.

Unlike 50 years ago, when a serious need existed to prepare more college instructors ( Hartnett & Katz, 1977 ), college teaching can no longer be expected to employ the majority of doctoral recipients (see Larson et al., 2013 ). Simultaneously, the value of research in the larger education sector has increased. Companies, nonprofits, and government agencies increasingly seek individuals who can procure the knowledge needed to inform decision-making. This includes the capacity not only to read and implement published research into policy and practice but also to do research studies that are specific to institutions’ needs. Disciplines may differ regarding how many doctorate-holders who work outside of academia go into research or into other positions (e.g., leadership), but research skills in the social sciences are among those required and valued in nonacademic positions ( Hancock, 2023 ; Kesari et al., 2024 ; see also Henkel & Kogan, 1993 ; Mills, 2009 ; Morrison et al., 2011 ). Furthermore, as the competition for regular faculty positions in universities becomes more intense, research productivity and potential for acquiring research funding will probably matter more ( Peterson et al., 2023 ).

Hence, though the need to fill faculty jobs may not warrant the production of as many doctorates as in prior generations, and this may entail a reduction in the number of individuals eventually admitted to doctoral programs, this does not likewise entail that we can expect a reduction in the need for researchers or in the specialization of the fields of knowledge in which research is done. Like all fields of knowledge, our field is likely to continue to expand the sophistication of its gaze, the reach of its focus, the ambition of its research designs, and so on ( Herbst et al., 2022 , 2023 ). As lifelong education continues to be a lever for economic development across the world, the need to translate basic research in our field into usable knowledge will probably grow. To respond to this need, applied research in mathematics education will continue to be conducted in nonprofit research organizations, school districts, state governments, and for-profit companies (such as publishers and educational software corporations). In all those environments, resident scholars will need to have organized knowledge of the prior research record and working knowledge of the research practices that produce it.

Stewardship of our field of knowledge, therefore, involves reproducing the research capacity to keep the work of our field alive, disciplined, and informed. It requires us to be creative and not accept that a reduction in the number of admissions and in academic employment prospects necessarily requires allowing doctoral preparation to become generic or to focus on individual students’ self-actualization. An interinstitutional effort is needed to support the existence and growth of our field of research, regardless of whether this research will eventually be done in universities or elsewhere.

• Toward Interinstitutional Research Niches

As stewards of our field, we need to figure out how we can maintain and continue to improve research preparation in the face of possible reductions in the number of doctoral students. A report from the second conference on doctoral programs ( Reys & Dossey, 2008 ) used the expression “market niche” 2 ( Middleton & Dougherty, 2008 , p. 141) to refer to sets of signature practices that describe the experiences that different doctoral programs around the U.S. could provide. Though their examples of such niches mentioned research topics (e.g., equity in mathematics education; see Reys et al., 2021 ), the definition of a niche around signature practices suggests that they need not be distinguished topically. I surmise that sets of signature practices might also be defined around clusters of research methods or around paradigmatic distinctions. A related idea, elaborated in more detail by Hiebert et al. (2008) , was that of intellectual community , which they defined as

a collaborative group focused on the exploration and critical examination of ideas.  . . .  An intellectual community consists of at least two faculty members who are expert practitioners in the area plus some number of doctoral students who serve as apprentices. (p. 248)

Though perhaps the clearest example of an intellectual community or niche may be a doctoral program dedicated to a particular area of specialization (e.g., undergraduate mathematics education), more commonly, mathematics education faculty members in a single program do diverse work from one another and instead form intellectual communities with colleagues across institutions who have converging interests. Some such interinstitutional intellectual communities have already formed in our field, particularly with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Centers of Learning and Teaching (such as CEMELA or DiME; Reys et al., 2019 ) or more recently by the scholars gathered around the VM 2 ED project (see https://sites.ced.ncsu.edu/mathedmeasures ).

Though the original proposal of market niches and intellectual communities included aspects of focus beyond research, I want to retrieve those ideas to envision how our field could organize interinstitutionally to reproduce research capacity. Those two ideas are the background of notion of interinstitutional research niche that I describe here.

• Interinstitutional Research Niches as Learning Organizations

Research niches may support the reproduction of research capacity by involving doctoral students in specific research practices. Research is indeed a form of learning. Even the most repetitive research operations (e.g., administering the same instrument to different samples and plotting the variation among scores) support the development of context for new noticings, wonderings, and observations. Research in a university-based environment often involves not only gathering information but also understanding the settings in which that information is collected and developing the arguments that make such information interesting. Participation in the research practices of a research niche could, therefore, expose doctoral students to a range of habits, skills, and techniques characteristic of that niche.

Research and development work in a research niche can be organized to provide learning opportunities for everyone involved. We need to be deliberate about such learning goals and think of learning through research not only as a mechanism for producing knowledge but also as an investment in the reproduction of capacity for producing knowledge. As we look into a future in which doctoral programs in education may not have critical masses of students to justify specializations or specialized courses, the research and development work of research niches will be essential to the reproduction of the conditions of production of knowledge in our field. The preparation of our research cadres will depend more closely on organizing and making available apprenticeships within research niches and enabling informal learning from work.

The schooling of the doctorate and the relative ease with which our doctoral graduates have found academic jobs in the past have allowed us to not be deliberate as a field in organizing for learning through the work of research (though important local efforts have existed). If research in our field is to continue to exist, even as academic jobs and doctoral students become scarcer, we will need our efforts at research preparation to be more effective at producing competent and self-­efficacious individuals. Merely having a doctoral degree may still allow some individuals to find teaching jobs in ­universities, but the scarcer positions in research universities and research organizations will require research training that is not guaranteed by the mere experience of having done a doctoral dissertation. The research practices in which individuals have been involved, and the research skills they have been able to acquire and employ in that context, are more likely to help them distinguish themselves as competent individuals who can continuously learn from work and hence contribute to the research output of universities, nonprofits, companies, and governments. This will require research niches that are organized as learning communities. Can we organize interinstitutionally for such preparation?

Under the schooling of the doctorate, the doctoral curriculum has been delivered through courses and seminars, but the possibility for doctoral students to learn from research work has been less predictable, less equitable, and sometimes also not very productive as a learning opportunity. One hears about doctoral students whose assigned tasks over long periods of time included only pulling and summarizing references, transcribing interviews or lessons, or coding qualitative data. Although all those tasks are important to learn and were probably needed by whomever assigned them, they are not the only ones available to be learned in research work, and merely doing them is not always enough to adequately learn them. Research has, for lack of a better word, a practice-based curriculum that needs to be learned. To figure out how to support its learning will take some thinking and organizing.

The practices of research that need to be learned include tasks at various levels. New researchers need to be able to understand and describe to others the big picture of the research enterprise they are involved in: how their actions contribute to the project, how the project contributes to our field of knowledge, and perhaps also how that contribution supports education practice. New researchers also need to learn specific technical skills: a working understanding of methods, techniques, and use of equipment; how to vet and use the knowledge and advice of experts as well as the outputs of software and other equipment; and how to effectively engage with specialized literature to efficiently form a position about the state of the art. They also need to acquire the tacit elements of craft knowledge and the habits of mind that orient the everyday operations of those in a working community—not because these will be universally applicable, but because they will serve as background for new researchers to adapt to and shape the norms of research work elsewhere. This practice-based knowledge is as much social as it is technical, and it draws from but also specializes everyday knowledge and the knowledge acquired in coursework.

If learning to do research through involvement in research work has been feasible for some doctoral students so far, this may have been largely because of the timely coincidence of a funded research project at the moment when and the place where such doctoral students were enrolled. In such a context, individuals may have been able to learn the research practices associated with what needed to be done at the moment. Though such circumstances are great opportunities to learn, they are constrained by place and time. If larger groups of researchers formed interinstitutional research niches that recurrently engaged in related research practices (e.g., the study of aspects of mathematics teaching knowledge using scenario-based instruments), those constraints may possibly be overcome.

Consider, first, a niche that included, on the one hand, scholars from an institution that can admit many mathematics education doctoral students (say, because they have available teaching assistantships or fellowships to support them) but that does not get many research grants and, on the other hand, scholars from an institution that has more access to research funding and data but where doctoral students are scarcer. In this scenario, doctoral advisees of the scholars of the first institution could feasibly be involved in research projects led by the scholars in the second institution, and all involved, scholars and doctoral students, could then learn from research together.

Consider, second, a niche that included scholars from different institutions who take turns each year in applying for research funding so that, as a result, their niche contains several research projects at different stages of development. The doctoral students of all scholars in the niche could feasibly apprentice doing different things for the different projects, thus having a more comprehensive experience learning from work. The different stages of development of each project (e.g., instrument development in one, analysis in another) could support the employment of apprentices in different tasks simultaneously or within a relatively short time. These experiences could create for novices the opportunity to make the kind of connections that reveal real learning (e.g., anticipating the analysis that will be possible to do with the data to be collected when the instruments are under development) as well as providing diverse experiences to be processed through reflection.

Having several people working on several projects as the context for the training on the job can better support the development of the sociotechnical competencies and resources needed to do research better and to become better researchers. For example, an interinstitutional research niche will probably develop more robust communication with research participants and data management practices to support the research operations than if the work were done only in one place or for a shorter period. As a result, doctoral students could be initiated into existing practices of communication and data management to which they could contribute in order to improve them. The same could be said about other sociotechnical competencies and resources.

These interinstitutional research niches can help build the various kinds of research infrastructure we have written about in the past ( Chazan et al., 2021 ; Herbst et al., 2021 ). In particular, an interinstitutional research niche that succeeded in acquiring research grants over the years is likely to build research corpora that may be usable later on for various secondary analyses. Doctoral students who participate in aspects of one such project might be able to continue to benefit from such access even as they themselves become mentors of novice researchers. 3

Opportunities to learn from the practice of research may be presently available in productive research groups and labs, and doctoral students who are poised to seek that learning currently learn it from work. However, we need to make sure that all doctoral students are aware of the need to seek such learning through work. And senior researchers need to improve the way in which they orchestrate novices’ opportunities to learn from work and help them process their experiences into learning. What are some things we could do to advance in this direction?

Strategies for Organizing Interinstitutionally for Longer-Term Research Training

If we agree that interinstitutional research niches may help reproduce capacity for research in our field as well as empower doctoral graduates to take jobs in places beyond academia, I have four general suggestions to help us make progress toward having research niches that function for those purposes.

• Thinking About the Field and Our Role in It

Before doing anything else, I believe that scholars need to reflect on the practice-based curriculum of the various research practices that animate mathematics education research. Our methodological pluralism and the diversity of foci of our research have resulted in a wide variety of research practices. Some of us do research at the small scale of particular classrooms, where we go every day with sophisticated recording equipment. Others of us do research at a larger scale, using questionnaires and tests that take time and specialized techniques to develop. And similar pluralism applies to how we examine the data we collect. We could use knowing more about each of such sets of practices, not to prescribe that doctoral students should learn them all, but to help us all become more aware of our practices as a step toward more deliberateness in the reproduction of research capacity. Our field could also benefit from sharing norms and procedures that we have found useful and not so useful in managing research groups and labs. Writings like Boaler et al. (2003) and Schoenfeld (1999) stand out as prominent publications that identified specific practices to prepare researchers for, but the topic could use more attention. We could also benefit from sharing what we have learned about mentoring novices from cases of successful and unsuccessful learning from work. I think we could find a place—perhaps in JRME Research Commentaries or perhaps in new doctoral program conferences—for us to share such material.

Above all, we need to think of ourselves as stakeholders of a field of research who work on a collective practice that involves teaching others to do research. We are not only working individually for ourselves or for the eventual users of our research in practice. Likewise, we are not only individual scholars mentoring our doctoral students to become individual scholars. Both our research and our doctoral mentoring contribute to the public enterprise of knowledge creation in mathematics education. We need to cultivate in ourselves and our doctoral advisees a sense of reverence and dedication to those public goals.

• Setting Up and Staffing Research Niches

The next step would be to actually establish interinstitutional research niches. As both doctoral admissions and research funding are becoming more competitive and less predictable, scholars who engage in similar or complementary research practices could consider ways in which they could integrate to form interinstitutional research niches that involve several scholars and their doctoral mentees. As with the case of courses ( Herbst, 2024 ), through the pandemic, many of us learned that engaging remotely in collective work is possible. Though a sizable component of our research work (e.g., data collection in classrooms) requires physical presence, other aspects of our research work can be done by teams of individuals distributed across the country—and some research organizations already function that way. This suggests that research niches could be created by gathering individuals who work across institutions located at considerable distance (though time zones can be a serious constraint). Scholars should consider stewardship of the foci of research, the theories being built, or the methods used as possible rallying points for the formation of interinstitutional research niches and not be limited by geography. 4

Some scholars may already have such connections, but we also need mechanisms for people to share how they work so that they can find one another. Perhaps, in addition to writing Research Commentaries, we could plan encounters at conferences in which we talk to one another about the kind of research we do and how we do it. We can configure sessions in which, say, six researchers describe their research operations and the things they would like to learn and do in the following 5–10 years. An alternative is sessions in which former or current mentees describe what they have learned about the practice of research through the work in which they apprenticed. These sessions could be followed by meetups proposed to discuss common sets of practices that may attract two or more of those researchers as well as others to form a niche. Groups that begin in this way could apply for conference grants to continue conversations and develop better relationships. Niches could then form organically as people who participate in these meetups and conferences develop ideas for interinstitutional research projects that would instantiate the ideas used to bring the niche together.

Once scholars involved in an interinstitutional research niche have created connections among themselves, they will turn to staffing the new niches with apprentices and others. As they evaluate doctoral applicants, scholars need to consider what experiences the applicants have had that may make them good recruits for the niche in which the scholar is involved. Prior experience teaching or mathematical preparation often informs potential topical alignment; prior coursework in research methods during a master’s program might be possible to expect as admissions become more demanding. Yet, other experiences, such as having worked in organizations where high demands of communication and accountability for assets and goals existed, or having worked in research labs where they had experiences with data management and preservation, may be just as important. Admission of students to become part of niches may require more attention to the potential alignment of work demands and work ethic than attention to traditional markers of academic prowess. Among those, for sure, is the prospective student’s capacity to understand the learning value of getting involved in work, even if the immediate output of the work is not personally valuable to them.

We need to be prepared for the eventuality that forming these niches will take work. Interinstitutional research niches would require individuals to work cooperatively, relinquishing individual control to a larger collective for some of the issues at stake in research (e.g., hiring a shared project manager, scheduling the use of shared equipment, allocating the time of shared assistants) while still being individually responsible for seeking funding and attracting individuals to the niche. That is, it will require individuals to work as members of a research organization and accept that some energy will be consumed in the organizing process. This may not be for everybody, and some scholars may prefer to continue working in their present conditions or to commit their efforts to shorter-term enterprises to be able to respond more nimbly to emerging problems and opportunities. Yet, research niches could provide creative ways of supporting projects whose funding is dwindling or incubating projects until funding is available.

• Securing Funding

Though research apprenticeships have often been tied to funded research projects, more important than the funding is the stewardship of clusters of research objectives. And to pursue those, depending on the type of work, an interinstitutional research niche might be able to operate without outside or sizeable funding. Interinstitutional research niches could, for example, rely on institutional support and create apprenticeship opportunities for doctoral students who have fellowships given by a foundation to them as individuals.

But funding would be very helpful in addition to being necessary to enable continuous work. Organizations like the NSF and the Institute of Education Sciences, which have in the past demonstrated interest in the development of research capacity, should see a need and opportunity to support the development of interinstitutional research niches that promote the various research practices that our field makes use of. We could envision a new round of grants similar to the Centers of Learning and Teaching from the early 2000s. These centers should be thought of as umbrellas for three or more existing research projects at different stages of development. They should have collected corpora of data that could be used for secondary analysis, and specific research tasks that can create opportunities to learn for novices across those projects and where the opportunity to learn also includes the administration and organization of research. These centers might offer fellowships for doctoral students who, regardless of what they study for their dissertation, would be working flexibly across the projects supported by the center in order to have the opportunity to learn the research practices that the niche is using.

• Securing Institutional Support

Beyond financial support, research niches will also need the support of the institutions that constitute our field. Professional organizations of researchers in mathematics education could consider incentivizing research mentorship—particularly the mentorship that happens across universities when scholars in one university involve doctoral students from another university in their research activities and related conversations. Awards could be instituted to recognize the work of mentors who best organize research activities to become opportunities to learn. Awards could also be given to exemplary mentees or to niches where exemplary interinstitutional research mentoring happens.

We also need some level of institutional advocacy for research practices and fields of study. The corporatization of universities (where research is sometimes seen merely as revenue generation) and the framing of doctoral programs as educational services to individuals are bringing us to a point at which reproducing capacity for knowledge generation is threatened. This requires us to come together as a field and organize to improve our field’s research capacity. But to avoid the fate of Orwell’s horse in Animal Farm , we could use some institutional advocacy from above. The U.S. federal government and some of its institutions (notably NSF) played a key role in the tremendous growth of the research capacity of universities during the second half of the 20th century ( Geiger, 2019 , p. 98). Can we get the NSF, National Academies, and professional organizations of researchers to do anything to recenter universities’ research focus on knowledge generation and capacity development before fields that produce less revenue disappear? Though one could ask about the proposals herein why universities should care to support interinstitutional research niches, I suggest that universities owe a historical debt for the previous support of the government in the larger public enterprise of knowledge generation. As we look into the rightsizing not only of doctoral programs but also of universities (see Mathews et al., 2023 ), it behooves universities to consider together how to preserve their legacy of knowledge generation in spite of their potential corporate transiency.

Our field needs to worry about the reproduction of our research capacity, which is not guaranteed by the fact that every PhD graduate writes a dissertation on a topic in mathematics education. An important practice-based curriculum is necessary for learning to be a researcher, and this needs to be learned through apprenticeship in a mathematics education research environment. Though no such apprenticeship will be comprehensive of all the practice-based curriculum of our field, doctoral students’ embedding in an interinstitutional research niche in which several mature researchers run several projects at various stages of development can expose novices to many of the specific practices that make up that practice-based curriculum. Participation in the everyday tasks of research, such as figuring out what needs to be done and communicating about it within a working research community, can promote novices’ learning of much of that curriculum. Rather than surrender to the loss of programmatic focus within institutions that comes from the ways universities have framed doctoral programs, stewardship of our research field should impel us to organize to reproduce research capacity in mathematics education in creative new ways. Interinstitutional research niches that gather faculty and doctoral students across diverse institutions around a consistent set of practices may serve to provide such learning opportunities.

Reproduction of the conditions of production of research or reproduction of research capacity, of course, does not necessarily mean the reproduction of the same education practices or even the same research practices that have been used to study them. It alludes to preserving and even increasing the capacity to know more, better, and differently as preconditions to improving research and practice.

The word “niche” has acquired a popular meaning associated with being of little use (see Urban Dictionary, n.d. ). Its use here, however, affirms the ecological and economic meanings, whereby the niche of a biological species or of a product is the set of resources and neighbors that provide context for its existence.

As an example, Ake et al. (2023) reported on research that led to a master’s thesis at the University of Maine that examined a data corpus collected at the University of Michigan, when Bukola Ake’s advisor—Justin Dimmel—was a doctoral student working in my research lab.

The European Union funded networks of excellence for research and doctoral training, such as Project Kaleidoscope, in the early 2000s, which required doctoral students to participate in projects across countries in the E.U. (N. Balacheff, personal communication, January 9, 2024).

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I acknowledge with appreciation comments and suggestions on a prior version from Jessica Bishop, Charalambos Charalambous, Yasemin Copur-Gencturk, Drew Gitomer, Jim Hiebert, Lani Horn, Andrew Iszák, Heather Johnson, Boris Koichu, Vilma Mesa, Robert Reys, and the editorial team.

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VMBS Recognizes 2024 Outstanding Alumni, Rising Stars

The Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) recognized seven former students at the 2024 Outstanding Alumni & Rising Star Awards Ceremony on May 17.

The Outstanding Alumni Award is the highest honor bestowed by the school and recognizes those who have reached a level of success in their professional careers that brings credit to both the individual and their alma mater. Honorees may be graduates of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine professional program, graduate academic programs, or biomedical sciences undergraduate program.

Established in 2013, the Rising Star Award recognizes graduates who have completed their education within the last 10 years. These outstanding former students have made significant professional accomplishments early in their careers including public service and volunteer activities that serve to positively reflect upon their alma mater.

Videos about each of the award recipients are available on YouTube and more photos from the ceremony are available on Flickr .

Outstanding Alumni: Dr. Helene Andrews-Polymenis ‘01

For more than two decades, Dr. Helene Andrews-Polymenis has been transforming the field of molecular microbiology through innovative research and impeccable leadership in the greater scientific and veterinary medical communities.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Brown University, Andrews-Polymenis graduated in 1999 from the Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences with her Ph.D. in molecular biology and microbiology. She completed her thesis work in the laboratory of National Academy of Sciences member Dr. Ralph Isberg. Her doctoral dissertation work on pneumonia-causing bacteria laid the groundwork for decades of pathogen research and has been cited more than 800 times by her peers.

Andrews-Polymenis began her training in veterinary medicine at Tufts and completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Texas A&M University in 2001 after she and her young family moved to College Station. After completing her academic work, Andrews-Polymenis joined the laboratory of esteemed microbiologist Dr. Andreas Bäumler, then an associate professor at the Texas A&M School of Medicine and now a professor at the University of California, Davis, and member of the National Academy of Science.

Today, Andrews-Polymenis is a professor in the Texas A&M School of Medicine’s Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology and has a joint appointment in the School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Veterinary Pathobiology.

Since the beginning of her faculty career, Andrews-Polymenis has been conducting groundbreaking research in the development and transmission of infectious diseases that impact both animals and humans, including Salmonella . Overseeing her own laboratory since 2005, her work is focused both on the mechanisms that infectious bacteria use to cause disease, as well as the traits of a host animal that influence disease outcomes after infection.

As such, Andrews-Polymenis’ research has continuously pushed boundaries. Most recently, in 2023, she and collaborators published a paper that effectively solved a 30-year-old mystery regarding bacterial retrons, which are segments of DNA that contribute to bacterial defense against viruses.

“This work represents a fundamental advance in microbiology and in our understanding of these DNA segments,” one nominator said. “These advances were made possible by the pioneering genetic approaches of Dr. Andrews-Polymenis.”

Andrews-Polymenis also continues to raise the bar for academic excellence, not only in her contributions to basic and applied science but also in her willingness to make resources available to the wider scientific community. She and her longtime collaborator, Michael McClelland, developed a collection of nearly 4000 Salmonella deletion strains that they share for free with anyone working in the field.

According to one nominator, “Several of the genomic tools developed in the Andrews-Polymenis laboratory proved to be valuable resources to the community, especially because they were distributed free to scientists in the community who requested them. The two papers describing these sets of genomic tools have been cited together over 300 times, reflecting their great utility to the field.”

In 2018, Andrews-Polymenis was awarded a Presidential Impact Fellowship, one of Texas A&M’s most prestigious scholarly awards, recognizing “rising stars in their respective fields, and those who embody the university commitment to advancing knowledge through transformational learning, discovery, innovation, and impact for Texas and the world.”

In 2023, she was elected to become a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology, a highly prestigious national and international honor. In addition, Andrews-Polymenis has been invited to share her knowledge at dozens of national and international events and has served as a reviewer and editor for many of her profession’s highest-ranking academic publications.

Andrews-Polymenis is also an outstanding mentor to young scientists. One nominator noted that she has successfully guided seven postdoctoral fellows and eight doctoral graduate students in her laboratory, the great majority of whom have become independently funded research scientists as a consequence of her influence and example in discovery science. She also has mentored approximately 30 undergraduate researchers in her laboratory, many of whom have continued on to medical school, veterinary school, and other professional science based pursuits.

“Dr. Andrews-Polymenis has distinguished our college, our profession, and her career as a trendsetting and exceptional basic and applied science investigator,” one nominator said. “On top of all these marvelous achievements, Dr. Andrews-Polymenis has not lost her deep character, charming personality, and unassuming, open nature while serving as a profound role model for the veterinary medical profession.”

Outside of these accomplishments, Andrews-Polymenis was, for several years, a deputized voter registrar, who enjoyed registering people to vote, teaching voting basics, and volunteering for several candidates for public office.

In 2019, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and through this experience, developed an interest in advocacy for cancer patients. In her free time, she now serves as the patient advocate external advisory board member for the Pancreatic Cancer Stromal Reprogramming Consortium, is a board of directors member for Let’s Win PC!, is an elected member of the National Cancer Institute Pancreas Task Force and Patient Advocate Steering Committee, and is the chief operating officer of the Targeting Resistance in Cancer Consortium.

Andrews-Polymenis lives in College Station with her husband, Michael, also an academic scientist. She enjoys spending time with their two adult daughters, Aggela and Athena, traveling both for pleasure and to visit family in the Pacific Northwest and in Greece.

Outstanding Alumni: Dr. Warren L. Beard ‘83 (awarded posthumously)

Dr. Warren L. Beard was an excellent equine clinician and surgeon, committed mentor, quick-witted researcher, and beloved colleague and friend. His research set the stage for continued advancements in both veterinary and human medicine and his mentorship molded decades of students into exceptional equine surgeons, veterinarians, and well-rounded individuals, thus ensuring his legacy continues for generations to come.

Beard discovered his passion for veterinary medicine as a child growing up in Houston and New Orleans and spending time with his uncle, Dr. Edward “Booster” Stephenson, an Aggie veterinarian from the class of 1963. Beard followed in his uncle’s footsteps, graduating magna cum laude from Texas A&M University with his bachelor’s degree in veterinary science in 1982 and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1983.

He spent two years in private practice in Dickinson, Texas, before beginning the equine surgical residency program at The Ohio State University. While working to complete his three-year residency, Beard also earned a master’s degree in veterinary clinical sciences.

In 1988, Beard accepted a faculty position in equine surgery at Ohio State and became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons the following year. In 2004, he joined the Kansas State University faculty as a professor of equine surgery.

“Dr. Beard worked to ensure that procedures were properly performed and horses provided with exceptional care,” one nominator shared. “His primary objective was to establish an accurate diagnosis to ensure that everyone on the surgery training team learned from the process of evaluation and to provide the client and patient with appropriate therapeutic options.”

Throughout his tenures at Ohio State and Kansas State, Beard actively participated in research and clinical studies, resulting in 72 scientific publications and numerous invited presentations to the ACVS, the European College of Veterinary Surgeons, and the Veterinary Orthopedic Society. His research interests focused on the equine upper airway and enhanced patient care, ranging from effective bandaging techniques to National Institutes of Health-funded cancer research.

Beard’s impact on the veterinary profession also included his role as a mentor and teacher. He guided 35 people through their surgical training programs, with 31 of his trainees now serving as board-certified veterinary surgeons and the remaining currently completing their training.

His annual teaching efforts included providing 17 credit hours of lecture, overseeing 12 laboratory courses, and developing and delivering a surgical skills course with 14 additional laboratories for third-year veterinary students.

“Dr. Beard taught his students and residents excellent surgical skills,” one nominator recalled. “More importantly, he taught us to think, how to accept and handle the uncertainty that accompanies clinical practice. He also imparted problem-solving skills and instilled in us the courage to engage in difficult conversations that accompany unexpected outcomes and inevitable complications and clinical errors.”

Beard received seven awards related to his teaching and mentoring activities, including being named honored mentor by the ACVS Foundation.

“Warren was a giant with shoulders for many to stand upon to achieve success,” another nominator said. “He led with quiet conviction, dedication, and dry humor. I have never met a more loyal person, and he was what everyone strives for in equine practice — truly amazing in his career while defining himself by his family and personal passions. I am a better veterinarian, surgeon, and person because he was my mentor.”

Beard enjoyed life in Olsburg, Kansas, where he lived with his wife, Dr. Laurie Beard, and their two children, Nat and Anne, before his death on July 24, 2023. In his time off, he enjoyed fly fishing, skiing, hunting, and working cows; his passion for living life beyond the job demonstrated the importance of work-life balance and served as a model for young veterinarians.

Outstanding Alumni: Dr. Bo A. Brock ‘90

Dr. Bo A. Brock has played a role in shaping the future of veterinary medicine since graduating at the top of his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine class at Texas A&M University in 1990.

Brock began his veterinary career at a mixed-animal clinic in Clarendon, Texas, and in 1992,  pursued his life-long goal of opening a high-quality horse practice in West Texas when he purchased a clinic composed of a few buildings in Lamesa.

He transformed those buildings into Brock Veterinary Clinic and began serving the rural community, with 750 active clients in his first year. Today, the clinic has more than 39,000 active clients, sees over 10,000 horses annually, employs 11 veterinarians, and serves patients from 2,300 zip codes. 

“When Dr. Brock first established the clinic, he had a dream to create one of the best equine veterinary clinics in Texas,” a nominator said. “Today, Brock Veterinary Clinic acts as one of the most popular equine clinics in the areas of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. People will travel hours seeking care offered by Dr. Brock and his clinic.”

In addition to setting the standard for veterinary care in the region, Brock also achieved a childhood goal inspired by his favorite horse, Sadie Jane, when he developed a surgical procedure to treat cyst-like lesions in the navicular bone in horses’ hooves. He published a peer-reviewed article describing the procedure and travels throughout North America showing veterinarians how to perform the surgery.

Brock’s passion for veterinary medicine has inspired countless young people with veterinary aspirations. He has opened his practice doors to more than 500 students from all over the world and has provided mentorship to more than 40 interns in his three decades of veterinary service.

“One of the most remarkable aspects of Dr. Brock’s mentorship and teaching is his ability to connect with students, interns, and employees on a personal level,” one of his former mentees said. “Through open communication, approachability, and genuine care, Dr. Brock has created an environment where students feel valued and empowered to explore their potential.”

Brock is one of 88 equine specialty veterinarians certified by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners and has taken on many leadership roles throughout his veterinary career. He is a founder of the Texas Equine Veterinary Association and has served on the Texas Veterinary Medical Association Board of Directors for 10 years.

His passion for connecting with others eventually led Brock to write and publish “Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere,” a humorous book about the life of a small-town veterinarian, which has sold approximately 100,000 copies since it was published in 2007.

He also has published a monthly column for DVM 360 , the leading magazine for veterinarians in private practice, and for the American Quarter Horse Journal , with a circulation of more than 220,000.

“Dr. Brock’s communication skills — combined with his efforts as practitioner, educator, leader in organized veterinary medicine, and author of lay and technical reports — has made him one of the most recognized figures in equine veterinary medicine,” one nominator said. “His expertise has improved the health of horses and has elevated the knowledge and clinical skills of everyone he has helped train and guide.”

Brock lives in Lamesa on a 20-acre vineyard, where he and his wife of 37 years, Kerri, raised three daughters and now enjoy the company of their seven grandchildren. When Brock is not at the vet clinic, he’s fly-fishing in Colorado on the property he purchased using the proceeds from his book.

Outstanding Alumni: Dr. Rob L. Coke ‘96

As the longest-tenured full-time veterinarian in the San Antonio Zoo’s 110-year history, Dr. Rob L. Coke is well-known across Texas for his expertise in zoological, exotic animal, and wildlife medicine.

Coke graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree in 1994 and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1996. He spent four years treating exotic pets in private practice before going to Kansas State University for an exotic animal, wildlife, and zoo animal medicine internship, which he followed with a zoological medicine residency at the Oklahoma City Zoo.

In 2002, Coke began his career at the San Antonio Zoo as a senior staff veterinarian before moving up to become the director of veterinary care and then the senior director of veterinary care, the position in which he currently serves.

“Rob has earned the trust and respect of his staff as well as zoo executives. He was instrumental in leading his team in establishing protocols to protect endangered species during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, as well as ensuring the zoo’s at-risk species, including lions, tigers and primates, were at the front of the line to receive vaccinations for the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” one nominator said.

Since joining the San Antonio Zoo, Coke has led the veterinary department to more than double its number of employees and has overseen the largest-ever expansion of the zoo’s veterinary hospital, which included the addition of a pharmacy, laboratory, and sterile surgical facilities.

In his day-to-day role, Coke runs the administration of the zoo’s veterinary functions while still finding time to treat animals, mentor trainees, develop new animal care techniques, and coordinate educational tours.

“Perhaps Dr. Coke’s most noteworthy character trait is his strong passion and enthusiasm for teaching, mentoring, and coaching others, with the rare ability to communicate difficult concepts so that all are able to understand,” another nominator said.

In 2022, Coke was recognized by the Texas Veterinary Medical Association as the Non-Traditional Species Practitioner of the Year. He was also a 2021 finalist in the national American Humane Hero Veterinarian of the Year awards.

Coke has held membership and leadership roles in several professional organizations, including the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, the American College of Zoological Medicine, and the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. He is also certified in veterinary acupuncture with the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society and regularly uses his alternative medicine skills to treat animals at the San Antonio Zoo.

“He has helped so many exotic patients of the community by sharing his knowledge of husbandry and compassion for the species,” another nominator said. “His accomplishments and knowledge of exotic veterinary medicine are of great value to the veterinary profession.”

Coke has also contributed to many peer-reviewed publications regarding exotic animal care and the development of new and more effective treatment methods.

“Dr. Coke is an avid scholar, gifted leader, distinguished professional, and exceptional teacher,” another nominator said. “He has dedicated over 23 years to the advancement of standards and knowledge in his field. His contributions will carry forward lasting positive impacts for many years to come.”

Coke lives in San Antonio with his wife, Heidi, and his two children, Elan, 15, and Keaton, 11. His hobbies include reptile and amphibian husbandry, medical and nature photography, miniatures painting, and sport fly fishing.

Outstanding Alumni: Dr. Jon J. “Jason” Drake ‘93, ‘95

In his nearly three decades of service to the veterinary industry, Dr. Jon J. “Jason” Drake has enhanced the field of veterinary parasitology through his marketing and research activities, while also serving his country as an active member of the U.S. Army Reserve as an officer in the Veterinary Corps.

Drake graduated from Texas A&M University in 1993 with two bachelor’s degrees, one in veterinary medicine and one in biomedical sciences. After also earning his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Texas A&M in 1995, he moved to Longview, Washington, where he spent five years in private practice.

Drake then began his career in industry at Novartis Animal Health, initially in Florida as a professional services veterinarian before making the move into a marketing role as the product manager for surgical devices. He moved to Canada in 2007 as the director of marketing, supporting marketing teams overseeing both livestock and companion animal products, and then returned to the U.S. as the director of professional services.

Shortly before Elanco Animal Health acquired Novartis Animal Health in 2015, Drake began a new position as a technical services manager in global marketing for companion animal parasiticides, a position that evolved into a research advisor for global marketing at Elanco Animal Health. During this time, he also obtained board certification in parasitology through the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists.

Drake joined Merck Animal Health in 2022 to begin his current position as the director of scientific marketing affairs for global companion animal parasiticides, for which he provides clinical and scientific expertise for new product development, participates in research to explore parasite prevalence and expand product knowledge, and engages with key opinion leaders in veterinary parasitology from around the world.

“Throughout his 23 years of experience within industry, Dr. Drake has been instrumental in the advances of the companion animal veterinary parasitology market, developed and implemented international programs, managed relationships and represented his company with various key external organizations within parasitology, and conducted various product launches across at least seven countries and five continents, always demonstrating exemplary professionalism and leadership,” one nominator said.

In 2016, Drake joined the Army Reserve as a veterinary corps officer in the 994th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Services), through which he provides veterinary care to military working dogs and helps mitigate the risks of food- and waterborne infections for military personnel. He deployed to southwest Asia for 10 months in 2020 to support Operation Spartan Shield, during which he was recognized in the news for his efforts to save a military working dog’s life; he also conducted two missions in South America in 2023 to support Tradewinds 2023.

“His cumulative and continuous contributions to veterinary medicine, veterinary parasitology, and to the U.S. Army are truly remarkable,” another nominator said. “He has consistently upheld the values to which Texas A&M Aggies, and especially Aggie veterinarians, aspire.”

During his career, Drake has authored or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications with over 1,100 citations.

“Perhaps the most notable feature of Dr. Drake’s career is his commitment to publishing research while working in the private sector,” another nominator said. “He embodies the highest Aggie ideals and epitomizes scholarly research excellence.”

Drake was recently selected to participate in the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists’ Hookworm Taskforce, a group of experts and practicing veterinarians who are developing strategies to manage and mitigate the emerging issue of multi-drug resistance in canine hookworms.

In addition to the AAVP, Drake has been an active member of the Companion Animal Parasite Council, the European Scientific Counsel for Companion Animal Parasites, and the National Center for Veterinary Parasitology, among others.

“Dr. Drake is also an active and enthusiastic encourager of veterinary and graduate students in the profession,” another nominator said. “He is a highly respected veterinarian and parasitologist who is valued for his practical approach to applied science and his commitment to excellence and service.”

Drake lives in College Station with his wife, Hilary. All three of their children have also attended Texas A&M University. He fills his spare time running with the Brazos Runners Club.

Rising Star: Ashley K. Rodriguez-Bishop ‘16

Ashley K. Rodriguez-Bishop demonstrates her dedication to fostering cooperation between veterinarians and shelters as well as applying veterinary epidemiological principles to municipal animal services in her role as the leader of the City of Bryan’s animal services.

Rodriguez-Bishop received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Texas at Brownsville (now the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) and began her veterinary career as an animal care technician at local animal shelters and clinics.

These early career experiences — which focused on low-cost animal management in predominantly Hispanic communities, with the goal of improving both animal and human health — prepared Rodriguez-Bishop for joining the Master of Science degree program in veterinary public health & epidemiology (VPHE) at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

While a student in the VPHE program, Rodriguez-Bishop was able to gain a deeper understanding of how animal and human health are interrelated.

“Ashley thrived in her degree program, applying her real-life experiences in shelter management to all her coursework,” one nominator shared. “She was even offered positions to teach courses, first as a teaching assistant in courses like Animal Diseases in Comparative Medicine and then in a larger teaching role in a course called Food Hygiene.”

Her kindness and character were also noted by one nominator.

“She served as an assistant for the late Dr. Leon Russell, a senior epidemiologist in our department,” the nominator said. “Not only did Ashley help organize his lectures and maintain all course websites, but she also helped Dr. Russell with his day-to-day life on campus and helped organize all his materials upon his passing.”

After completing her master’s degree in 2016, Rodriguez-Bishop became program coordinator for the City of Bryan Animal Services, where she oversaw fosters, public relations and media, volunteers, and service events for Bryan citizens while also directing all activities and programs for the Bryan Animal Center.

Just two years later, Rodriguez-Bishop’s skills, professional insight, and hard work led her to become animal services supervisor for the City of Bryan, overseeing not only Bryan Animal Center but also Bryan Animal Control.

“Ashley puts into practice all the principles of herd health, public health, zoonotic disease control, and ethical management of animals that she learned in her MS training at the VMBS,” wrote one nominator.

Rodriguez-Bishop’s commitment to bettering the relationship between veterinarians and shelters has also resulted in several collaborations with VMBS faculty and students to study the rates of pathogen transmission and fleas in shelter animals. These collaborations allow students to get hands-on experience volunteering with shelter animals, faculty to get research data for improving animal well-being, and shelter animals to receive a high standard of veterinary care.

“It’s impossible to repay Ashley for the many opportunities she created for our students,” a nominator shared. “She does an amazing job of advocating for animal services against the competing interests in the City of Bryan and should absolutely be an ambassador for the VPHE program and Texas A&M in general.”

A newlywed, Rodriguez-Bishop currently lives in Bryan with her husband, Tyler, and their four rescue chihuahuas — Roo, Gibbs, Ellie, and Lulu — who keep them busy and always laughing. Together, they enjoy fishing at the Texas coast, going to the movies, and gaming. In her free time Rodriguez-Bishop also appreciates a good book and enjoys the sounds of the ocean when she goes back home to the Rio Grande Valley.

Rising Star: Dr. Michelle L. Tucker ‘14

Captivating the attention and admiration of the veterinary community, Dr. Michelle Tucker has emerged as a rising star in large animal surgery, driven by her exceptional surgical skills, passion for research, interdisciplinary knowledge, and mentoring abilities.

After graduating from Texas A&M University with her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2014, Tucker completed two equine internships, one in private practice and one at Kansas State University. She then pursued a Ph.D. in large animal clinical sciences from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, where she also completed a residency program in 2020 and became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons for large animal surgery.

“Dr. Tucker enthusiastically embraced all types of surgical patients, having a penchant for difficult and complex cases,” a nominator said. “Our caseload at Western College is about 70% horses, and the remainder was cattle, sheep, goats, and camelids. She nevertheless took on the non-equine caseload and developed considerable expertise in managing those cases.”

Following the residency program, Tucker joined Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine as an assistant professor of large animal surgery in 2021 and is currently responsible for teaching three surgery courses.

In addition, in 2022, Tucker successfully defended her thesis on using new technology to improve surgical correction of upper airway obstruction in horses, and she is now continuing her research into 3D airway modeling that may be used to predict patient outcomes of different equine surgical procedures.

“Tucker has published her Ph.D. work in top-tier veterinary journals and presented her research at major national and international conferences with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and the 2022 Calgary International Equine Symposium, where she received the prestigious Platform Presentation Award,” one nominator said. “In the spring of 2023, she received internal funding to continue her research, including funding from the competitive Purdue Equine Research Advisory Board.”

With her bachelor’s degree in biosystems engineering and biology, Tucker has navigated various disciplines to not only expand her own knowledge but also to set a new standard for comprehensive and holistic animal care.

“Dr. Tucker collaborated with many throughout her Ph.D. program and into her post-doctoral position, seeking out relationships with somewhat unexpected groups, such as engineers, physicists, and 3D printing designers,” one nominator said. “I am confident this is the type of interdisciplinary vision that will open countless One Health possibilities for her in the future and keep pushing the boundaries of what veterinary medicine can achieve.”

Beyond her clinical and research achievements, Tucker has embraced the role of student, intern, and resident mentor. Yet her dedication to nurturing talent is not limited to her mentees, as she tends to be available to many students outside of normal hours to help them develop their surgical technique or discuss career goals.

“The thing that makes Dr. Tucker unique is her enthusiasm toward teaching and training future professionals,” one nominator said. “She is selfless, giving, and wholeheartedly devoted to supporting her students. She frequently tells me about anxious or nervous students who sit in her office for hours and the satisfaction she has when she sees their confidence and excitement about equine surgery or research grow after working with them for a few weeks.”

Tucker is also a member of key departmental and hospital committees at Purdue, including the Graduate Student Committee, Intern Committee, and Equine Wellness Forum Committee that is in charge of organizing continuing education meetings for horse owners in the region.

Tucker lives in West Lafayette, Indiana. In her free time, she enjoys walking the local trails, frequenting the gym, attending festivals and activities, cheering on the Purdue basketball team, and visiting her parents and brother in Lexington, Kentucky.

For more information about the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at  vetmed.tamu.edu  or join us on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter .

Contact Information:  Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences,  [email protected],   979-862-4216

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